It's Complicated
by alittlebitofcringe
Summary: As far as Liv Adams is concerned, Albus Severus Potter is a self-righteous prick that seems intent on making her life the definition of hell. At the moment, all she wants is to get through school in one piece, drama free. Unfortunately, life seems to have other plans for her.
1. Of Potions Class and Making a Scene

**A/N:** So this is my first story, hope you all enjoy it! I honestly started writing this years ago so suggestions/feedback are much appreciated :)

* * *

As soon as I woke up, I knew today was going to be a bad day.

It might have been the fact that I missed breakfast, since I slept in and none of my roommates - who were also supposed to be my _friends_ \- thought it would be a good idea to wake me up.

Or perhaps it was because, in my mad rush to get ready on time, I'd left my charms homework in the dormitory - something that would later earn me a one hour detention with the ray of sunshine that is Professor Blake.

But maybe, _just maybe,_ it had something to do with the fact that class A git, Al Potter, decided that today would be the perfect day to _set fire to my hair_.

As if my day wasn't already going badly enough.

* * *

I rushed to DADA twenty minutes late, bursting through the door in what could only be called a dramatic entrance for the records. My hair was a tangled mess, and I stood in the doorway, face red and sweaty, as I tried to regain some sense of my regular breathing. I felt the stares of the class as my teacher turned to face me, humour sparkling in his blue eyes.

"Ah Olivia," Teddy Lupin said, a smile on his face. "How nice of you to show up. I was beginning to worry you'd gotten lost again - after all, wasn't it only last week that you barged into my class with the second years?"

I flushed. In my defence, I wasn't _lost._ It just so happens that I can get a little… _scatterbrained_ sometimes. Besides, I'm pretty certain the only reason I ended up in DADA last week (when I should have been in herbology) was because _somebody_ decided to switch up my timetable.

That someone being Al Potter of course.

I honestly have no idea what I did to evoke his wrath. All I know is that our age old rivalry remains to this day, in everything that we do: classes, Quidditch, endlessly-annoying-the-other-until-they-want-to-tear-their-hair-out - you name it, we've competed over it.

Teddy's voice jolts me out of my thoughts. "Well Olivia, if you'd like to sit down instead of aimlessly standing in the doorway like a lost goldfish, I could continue my lesson." I could sense his amusement from here.

"Sorry Ted-Professor Lupin" I mumbled, quickly heading to my seat and thanking Merlin it was only Teddy's class I had been late to.

You see, Teddy Lupin was quite possibly the most laid back teacher Hogwarts has ever had. When he was in school, he caused havoc wherever he went, with pranks and parties that were the stuff of Hogwarts legend. And now, he had returned to teach (although most suspected he simply missed the chaos of Hogwarts). To this day, there have been rumours that he secretly participates in the prank wars, and although he's never been caught, McGonagall certainly has her suspicions.

She's got eyes like a hawk, that woman.

Well anyways, since my mum was practically best friends with Hermione Granger (what with them working together in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement) I ended up becoming close with the Potter-Weasley clan, which led to Teddy pretty much becoming an older brother of sorts to me.

Its nice to know that I've got at least _one_ teacher I can blackmail when the need arises. After all, I'm sure Teddy wouldn't want his dear Grandmother Weasley to know about his drunken escapades during seventh year…

I plopped down in my seat, dumping my books next to me and blowing a stray curl out of my face. _Crap_. With how late I was running in the morning, I hadn't had time to put my usual straightening charm on my hair. Now it hung in a frizzy mess of dirty blonde curls - no wonder I was getting so many strange looks in the corridors.

And sitting right next to me was the cause of all my problems.

I elbowed her. Hard.

"Cassie!" I hissed. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Now I probably sound like an entitled bint, but let me tell you this: Cassie Williams has woken me up _every morning_ since first year, without fail. Since she's up at the crack of dawn, drinking her green tea and doing her yoga, its never much trouble for her to get me awake. Originally, she struggled, since I'm as responsive as a rock when I sleep, but over the years she's developed quite an arsenal of tricks to get me awake. From levitating charms to simply tipping me off the mattress, Cassie's become quite well versed in the art of waking me up on time, not to mention she finds some sadistic amusement in torturing me at 7am, when I'm at my worst. Which is why this particular morning was such a shock to me.

"That my dear friend," She said, tossing her platinum blonde hair over her shoulders. "was revenge for ditching me for Quidditch practice." She spat the words out, obviously disgusted. I rolled my eyes. Cassie made it no secret that she detested Quidditch - it wasn't until third year, when Erin and I joined the team, that she even bothered showing up to watch the matches.

"Okay, I'm all for pissing off Liv, but leave Quidditch out of this!" Erin butted in.

Erin was your stereotypical punk. _Literally_. Inky black hair in a pixie cut, snarky attitude, questionable music taste (though she would _kill_ me if she heard me say that), she had it all. She absolutely terrified most of the lower years (not to mention a lot of us when she first joined) but you could always count on her to be there for you, no matter what.

 _And_ there was always the fact that she was ready with her beaters' bat to greet anyone who decided to mess with us.

Rose looked up from her hastily scribbled notes,

"I swear guys, you talk non stop during every class, and then beg me for notes a week before the exams! This year, you're on your own."

"Yeah Rose" I said, smiling sweetly. "That's what you tell us every year"

In all honesty, I bet Rose liked to see us squirm. After all, by the time exams rolled around she was the most relaxed out of all of us. While the rest of us drowned our heads in books, she'd be busy planning some prank with James, tackling all the logistics and difficult spellwork that he couldn't get his head around. More than that, after five years, she had a lifetime's supply of Honeydukes' due to our incessant bribing for notes during exam season.

The rest of the class passed uneventfully, with the exception of Eleanor Bones managing to grow herself a rather flattering pair of antlers once we'd moved on to practical spells. At this point, I'm pretty certain the poor girl lives in the hospital wing, what with her constant magically-induced predicaments.

When the bell rang, we all got up and stuffed our books into our bags, eager to get out of class (even if it was only for a few minutes). As we walked down the corridor, Cassie spilled the latest gossip spreading through Hogwarts, keeping us up to date with the Hogwarts rumour mill.

"And then, _apparently_ Julie Waters walked in on him snogging Madeline Vane! Can you believe it?" Currently she was busy detailing the exploits of Zachary Corner - a seventh year who was infamous for his short lived flings. Honestly, I'm surprised Julie expected a serious relationship with him, we all know that the words 'long term' don't mean a thing to Zachary Corner.

As we turned a corner, I realised I had no idea what class I was going to.

"Guys," I said. "What do we have now?"

Erin smirked, "Only your favourite class ever…"

Cassie joined in, apparently eager on making me suffer today. "Oh yes Liv, this class is practically your heaven on earth…"

I stopped in my tracks. Oh no. It couldn't be. Not…

" _Potions_."

Someone kill me now.

* * *

To say that I was bad at potions would have been an understatement. I sucked at it, metaphorically of course. The theory wasn't a problem, I could memorise that easily (even if I didn't understand a thing). But the practical part was a different matter.

It didn't help that my partner was none other than the _complete arse_ Albus Severus Potter.

Slughorn slammed my assignment on the desk, and I jolted out of my thoughts. I looked down to find a big red 'E' scrawled on the top right corner.

Slughorn didn't spare me a second glance before he turned to the git next to me with a large smile plastered on his face. "Well done Mr Potter! I have a sense that you've done a lot of the work here." he said, while shooting a surreptitious glance at me. Then he turned to properly face me. "As for you Miss Adams, I trust that in the future you will actually contribute to your assignments, and refrain from making your partner do all the work."

I was fuming. How _dare_ he! As if it wasn't me who spent hours in the library trying to finish the project while Potter was off doing who knows what! The git had made it clear he wouldn't give the project any importance, so I was left to finish it. That wanker didn't do a thing and yet he gets all the credit?

Furious (and probably a bit delirious - I blame the potion fumes in the dungeon) I started muttering under my breath, mimicking Sluggie (who had continued down the class), my voice steadily rising. "Oh Mr. Potter! You're so skilled at potions, a natural born talent, such a joy to have in the class. You're just like your father, I wish I could just bow down and kiss your feet!"

Okay so maybe the last bit wasn't the most accurate. Unfortunately for me it was the only part the prick next to me had heard, not to mention the rest of the class, who were all watching us eagerly.

Gossip-hungry animals, the lot of them.

"Now now Adams," Potter said loudly, raising an eyebrow. "I know I'm irresistible and everything, but lets keep our relationship strictly professional." His voice went lower. "But... if you want, we could arrange something… on the side." He smirked.

I felt the tips of my ears turn red. That arrogant wanker! I'm surprised his broomstick can carry the weight of his massive ego!

"I would never stoop low enough to date a self-obsessed maggot like you!" I shot back

"Oh really now? Well I vaguely remember a boyfriend of yours who fits that name much better than I do" He was referring to Michael Davies, my ex boyfriend from a few months ago. True, he was an arsehole, but I'd take him over Potter any day.

Before I could reply, Slughorn cut in, his tone dry. "Ahem. Well, as riveting as your conversation is, I'm afraid I have a lesson to continue with. Five points from Gryffindor."

I turn around to see that the entire class was staring at us now, some with knowing smirks on their faces. Pricks. They knew nothing.

"Alright class, today we are going to brew the Draught of Peace, a potion that will most definitely come up in your OWLs." As expected, there was a chorus of groans from the class - no one wanted a reminder of OWLS, which were only a couple of months away

Slughorn waved his wand. "Split up into your pairs, the instructions are on the board. I want a vial of your completed potion by the end of the lesson."

I sighed. This was going to be _just great_.

* * *

I stopped stirring the potion to smell something burning, and heard Potter mutter "Oh shit". I looked down, and screamed.

"POTTER! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" I shrieked, not caring about the rest of the class. In case you're wondering, he burnt my hair. That's right, he _burnt my flipping hair_. I quickly put the fire out and turned to Potter, glaring at him. "You were supposed to be tending to the fire! Can't you do _anything_ right?"

"Oh please, don't act like you're better than me." He rolled his eyes. "Might I remind you who got top of the year in potions? Besides, class gets boring sometimes, you can't blame me for wanting to have some fun." The smirk was present, as always, making me want to slap the git.

"That doesn't mean you get to burn my hair!" Saying I was furious would be an understatement. The straightening charm I had put on my hair after defence had begun to wear off due to the heat, and my hair began to curl again.

"Relax Adams, It looks better like this anyway. I never did like your natural hair colour."

My temper flared. "Shut up Potter! you wouldn't know good hair if it was right in front of you!"

"Oh really? Because that explains why half the hogwarts population is dreaming of running their hands through my hair." He smirked, knowing I couldn't deny it. Right now I was seriously considering killing off every female in hogwarts - excuse my murderous tendencies.

Unable to think of a reply, I simply said,

"In your dreams, Potter."

He probably would have come up with a sarcastic retort, if it hadn't been for the bell.

While everyone else got up to leave the lesson, I looked down at our potion. It didn't look too bad, considering I was pretty preoccupied with yelling at Potter. I quickly poured some into a vial and left it on Slughorn's desk, eager to leave the classroom and Potter far behind.

* * *

Turns out Madame Pomfrey wouldn't fix my hair - something about "school regulations" and how it's a "trivial matter" that doesn't require her attention. I'm 99 percent sure that's bullshit, and that the real reason is that this is her payback for my constant whining in the hospital after Quidditch related accidents. I'm also fairly convinced that denying a student care and attention when they've been _assaulted_ is illegal, but Madame Pomfrey was a force to be reckoned with. I ended up chopping off the burnt parts myself, so now my once waist length hair came to about my shoulders. Well, at least my straightening charm still works; I haven't had my hair in its natural state for years.

On the way back from the hospital wing, I hadn't stopped ranting - I mean, do you really blame me?

"Calm down Liv." sighed Rose. "It's just your hair."

"Well yes, but I'll have you know I quite liked my hair - _before_ it was burnt. Besides, it's the principle of it - I mean he burnt my bloody hair! What do you expect me to do? Bow down and kiss his feet?"

"Well that's what it sounded like you wanted to do back in potions. Hmm… what was it you said again?" Erin smirked at me from next to Rose.

I cringed. "Was I really that loud? It's just that the git annoys me so much…"

Cassie, who was walking next to me, rolled her eyes. "Shut it Liv, this is getting old now. Just get into a broom closet and snog already."

Erin looked at her pointedly "Well seeing as that's your solution for everything, maybe you should try that with Louis."

Clearly feeling sorry for Cassie (who began to vaguely resemble a tomato), Rose intervened. "Shut up Erin, just cause you couldn't get a boyfriend if you tried." _Wow, good one Rose! I'm sure Erin's cowering in terror._

Erin snorted. "Oh _please_ , I don't need one. I'm too good for everyone in this hell hole anyways."

With that the four of us stopped in front of the fat lady, who looked offended at being called part of a 'hell hole'.

"Devil's snare." I said, eager to get into the safe confines of my bed.

As we made our way to the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories, something caught my eye. Potter and Malfoy were lounging in the armchairs by the fire, talking about god knows what.

I found myself walking towards them, and my mind vaguely registered the sound of Cassie muttering "And here she goes again…"

"Well hello girls" Malfoy said, a smirk on his face. "Do you need anything? Like perhaps a trip to the broom closet?"

"Nah we're good, wouldn't want to risk an STD," replied Erin, rolling her eyes. I hadn't realised she was behind me - but then again, you can always count on Erin to never miss a fight.

Malfoy looked mildly affronted, and Potter knowingly asked "Well then? What brings you here to this part of the common room?"

Before I knew what I was doing, I had my wand out and Potter was hanging upside down in front of me.

The git _still_ had a smirk on his face.

"That," I hissed, "Was for burning off half my hair."

"Really Adams," He drawled, as unfazed as ever, despite the fact that he was dangling upside down from the ceiling of the Gryffindor common room. "You should be thanking me - now people won't have to stare at a rat's nest every time they look at you. You never know, this might be the change that helps you win back Davies…"

"In case you'd forgotten, _I_ was the one that dumped Davies, not the other way around…"

"Right… _after_ he cheated on you with Lancaster…"

I felt anger bubbling up inside me. Who did Potter even think he was, walking around the castle like he owned the place, setting fire to people's hair and then proceeding to poke fun at their love life in front of most of Gryffindor house?

"Well Potter, don't you have anything better to do? I mean, being the _son of Harry Potter_ , don't you have expectations to live up to?"

Rose gave me a warning look from across the room, but I carried on, my temper taking hold of me.

"You must be such a _disappointment_ , compared to your dad I mean. What was it he was doing in fifth year?"

Now Cassie and Rose had come up next to me, the latter who gave me a look that clearly said _stop right now._

For some reason, the words wouldn't stop coming out of my mouth. My pride had been wounded, and this was the result.

"Oh, that's right, he started teaching everyone DADA, and went on to battle Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. He must be so _disappointed_ in his son, who doesn't even come _close_ to being a hero."

Something changed in Potter's eyes, and I knew I had crossed a line. Still, my words were in the open now, and there was nothing I could do to change that.

He took a step forward, eyes narrowed.

"At least I know that I would _try_ to save someone if I had the chance - could you say the same for yourself? Because judging from what _I've_ seen, you're generally too self-obsessed to give a shit about anyone other than yourself."

I froze. He had hit his mark. His words had launched themselves at a memory buried deep inside me; a memory I had strived to forget for the past five years.

"You know nothing." I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

I turned away and walked up the stairs to the dorms, feeling hollow and numb inside. Upon reaching our room, I shut the door behind me and leaned against it.

Then I let the memory consume me.


	2. Sticks and Stones

I woke up to a tear stained pillow and light streaming in through the open windows. The rest of the room was empty, and I closed my eyes again, enjoying the comfort of my bed.

Until I remembered the events of yesterday.

My eyes flew open, and I stared at the ceiling, reliving mine and Potter's fight. Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut for God's sake - I knew I was crossing a line and yet for some reason I couldn't stop.

Why couldn't I just keep my bloody temper under control?

I sat up, and immediately my head began to spin. I'd slept fitfully last night, my mind plagued with memories I'd hoped to have forgotten by now. Still, that didn't mean I could wallow in bed all day…

 _Oh, screw it._

I dropped my head back onto my pillow with a _thump_ , and proceeded to wallow in a pit of self-inflicted misery.

That is, until I heard two pairs of footsteps enter my room.

"Oh good, she's awake." Cassie's face loomed above me. "Get out of bed Liv, there's no use wallowing all day."

 _Well, there goes my plan for today._

I pulled the covers over my head and mumbled my disagreement. There was no _way_ I was facing everyone after yesterday's spectacle in the common room. No, it was better that I stay locked up in the dormitory and never show my face to the world again. I might even decide to invest in a paper bag in case I absolutely _had_ to leave my room, since I wasn't planning on starving myself.

Almost reading my mind, I heard Erin's voice saying "You can't just lock yourself in here forever - you're going to have to face the rest of the world sooner or later."

When I made it clear that I wasn't going to cooperate, I felt my mattress tip dangerously to the side.

"OKAY OKAY!" I screeched, not willing to end up on the floor so early in the morning. "I'll get up."

They grinned victoriously, and Cassie chucked me my towel and some clothes once I had successfully gotten out of bed.

"Now, go shower." She said, wrinkling her nose. "You stink."

I rolled my eyes, then realised someone was missing. With a sinking feeling, I realised it must be because of my slightly - ahem - _hurtful_ words to her cousin.

"Guys…" I asked, half not wanting to know the answer. "Where's Rose?"

They looked uncomfortable.

"Well, you see…" Cassie began.

"She's avoiding you." Erin blurted out, tactful as always. "She thinks you both were out of line and now she's torn because she doesn't want to take sides between her friend and her cousin."

I cringed. Sooner or later, I was going to have to sort things out with the rest of the Potters and Weasleys - I doubt they were pleased with the things I'd said, whether I'd meant them or not.

"But you can sort things out _after_ you shower." Cassie said, noticing my thoughtful silence. "Now, _go_."

As I shut the bathroom door behind me, I heard Erin's voice through the door.

"Oh yeah - we also brought you breakfast."

Did I mention how much I _love_ my friends?

* * *

One long shower later, I emerged from the bathroom, dressed and ready to sort out my mess.

… Actually, I was still quite inclined towards hiding out in my bed until everyone had forgotten the whole ordeal.

Unfortunately, my friends had other ideas.

"Eat." commanded Erin, passing me some toast and a muffin, as I sat down on my bed. "And then you can go and fix the mess you've made."

"Nuh-uh" I mumbled, my mouth filled with food. I couldn't face Potter, not after all the shit I'd said to him.

Cassie looked at me, a mixture of exasperation and concern displayed on her face. "Come on Liv, at least patch things up with Rose first. It's the least you can do."

Well, Rose _was_ one of my best friends. And at the moment apologising to her seemed a lot less daunting than confronting Potter, not to mention the rest of their abnormally huge family.

"Fine." I muttered, very well aware that I was being extraordinarily immature about the whole thing. " _After_ I finish eating."

"We wouldn't have expected anything else." Said Erin dryly.

I noticed Cassie looking unusually hesitant, staring at me from where she sat crosslegged on the floor.

"What is it, Cass?" I asked, wondering what the matter was.

She bit her lip, a telltale sign she was making a decision. "I was just wondering… how come you left so suddenly last night? I mean when we followed you up you'd shut the curtains around your bed and were either asleep or pretending to be, and something Albus said seemed to really bother you…" She trailed off, looking uncertain.

I looked at Erin, who had a similar expression on her face, almost as if she'd been about to ask something similar.

Guilt welled up inside of me. Erin and Cassie knew something was bothering me, and they were worried, but couldn't do anything about it since they didn't know what exactly was wrong. After all, I hadn't told anyone about… that day. When I joined in first year, the memory was still fresh in my mind, so much that I had trouble sleeping, and Rose, Erin and Cassie had all been there to get me through it. Throughout the whole ordeal, they never asked questions, only making sure that I knew they were there for me no matter what. Whenever things got exceptionally bad, they'd make me go talk to my older brother Liam, who, being family, was one of the few people that knew the whole story. As the years went by, I'd slowly begun to get over it and move on, but now after mine and Potter's spat, I found myself reliving old experiences.

"It's okay guys." I muttered. "I'll be fine." A blatant lie. Neither of them looked satisfied.

"Maybe you should go see Liam?" Erin suggested.

"No it's okay, I've got this." Seeing their distrustful looks, I amended, "If I find that it gets worse I'll go talk to him."

But the unsaid problem hung in the air - Liam was going to graduate this year, and after that I had to learn to cope on my own. It had been six years, for goodness' sake, I needed to get over this.

Pushing the thought away from my mind, I finished my muffin and got up.

"Alright." I said, feeling surprisingly optimistic. "Time to find Rose."

"Now _there's_ the Olivia we all know and love." Erin grinned.

I shrugged. "She was bound to return eventually." But despite my cool facade, worry continued to eat at me inside. And despite their grins, I could tell my friends were concerned, but knew not to press the issue (at least for now).

* * *

As expected, I found Rose in the library, trying to get through some transfiguration reading. I stood awkwardly at the side of the table, wondering how best to approach her, when she looked up and sighed.

"What do you want?" She said, even though she knew exactly what I wanted.

"Oh… Well I - um…" I mumbled, not sure what to say. After all, apologies weren't exactly my strong suit (blame the Gryffindor pride, not me).

"You're nervous." She stated, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Am not." I shot back, immediately on guard.

"Yes you are. You're doing that… tapping thing again."

And sure enough, I looked down to find my fingers drumming on the table and my foot tapping the floor. _Oh._

I stopped, and looked up at her again. This was _Rose_ goddamnit - my best friend! If i couldn't manage an apology to her, I had no chance with Potter.

"I'm sorry." I muttered at last, looking at the floor. "I know I shouldn't have said those things, and put you in such an uncomfortable position - you know, what with you being friends with me and cousins with Potter, and I know you've kind of been stuck in the middle since me and Potter kind of hate each other - and I didn't honestly mean that stuff I swear, it just kind of slipped out since I was so caught up in the moment and so _bloody pissed off_ and honestly I just wanted to say _something_ that would bother Potter since he seems so _bloody immune_ to anything I say or do and ugh…"

She cut my eloquent apology off by standing up and gathering her books. Thinking she was about to leave me, I hurriedly said "No, Rose wait! I'm not done, I -"

She silenced me with a look.

"Liv, you're rambling again."

I stopped.

"Now come on, we'll talk outside - Pince is giving us both death glares as I speak." And sure enough, the elderly librarian was eyeing us both distrustfully with her beady black eyes, ready to throw us out should we make anymore noise. I hurried after Rose, not wanting to lose library privileges so close to OWLs.

Once we were outside, we headed towards the fourth floor corridor that faced the courtyard without speaking. For some reason, since second year we'd started coming here whenever we knew we were about to have a long conversation or a heart to heart - don't ask why, that's just how it is. It was partially to save us the long trek up the stairs to the Gryffindor dorms, and partly because the corridor was a nice spot: quiet and airy with light streaming in from the ceiling-high windows.

We reached the middle of the corridor and sat down on the left hand side, leaning against the wall.

"I really am sorry -" I began, finding the silence awkward.

"No, it's okay Liv, I know you are." Rose interrupted. "And I'm not mad… exactly. Al _is_ family, not to mention one of my closest cousins, and it's hard being caught up in the middle of your feud, but I know that things in that department aren't exactly going to change anytime soon…"

I stayed silent, and she carried on.

"It's just that… the stuff you said, mainly about Al being the son of Harry Potter, it kind of applies to all of us. I mean all of the Weasley-Potters. We're all the children of famous war heroes, and we all have expectations forced on us. Hearing you say that stuff affected a lot of us, cause it made us realise that no matter how close to anyone we are, it doesn't change the fact that some part of them will always see us as our last names."

"No, Rose, you know that's not true -" I tried to explain.

"No, Liv, _listen to me_." She said, and I shut up again. "I know you only directed what you were saying at Al, but it's relevant to us all. No matter what we do, we _are_ all Potters and Weasleys, and we _will_ be compared to our parents, whether we like it or not. But for most of our time at Hogwarts, we thought people had begun to see us as more than our last names. Your… outburst…yesterday changed that, and we've sort of been forced to realise that even friends do still have that image of us as the children of war heroes."

Her deep brown eyes betrayed her hurt, although her composure remained calm. I hated myself for making my friend go through this.

"Are you done?" I asked, and when Rose said nothing, I continued. "Now _you_ listen Rose. I have spent summers on end with your family. I've played quidditch with you and your cousins, tested out joke products with your uncle and dad and had your mum teach me transfiguration. I _know_ that you and your family are some of the most down to earth people, despite what the papers say. I _know_ how your nan loves knitting everyone jumpers for christmas, how Lily's afraid of the dark, how your Uncle George hates mirrors, and how Al- What I mean to say is I _know_ your family and I know that they're all so much _more_ than a name on their birth certificate."

I didn't know why I stumbled upon mentioning Potter, probably because I didn't really know anything specific about him. But while listing out things about Rose's family, it seemed important that I mention him as well.

Rose continued to look unconvinced, and I carried on, my voice quiet.

"C'mon Rose, you know I say things I don't mean when I get upset - do you honestly think I'd compare Potter to his dad - _Harry Potter,_ who sings Celestina Warbeck at the top of his lungs while wearing snitch pyjamas and flipping pancakes?" At this, Rose smiled a little.

"Well, you've won me over." Then her gaze turned serious. "But you do realise that I'm not the only one you owe an apology."

"Yeah, I'll get to James and the others later today."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

I sighed. I really wasn't looking forward to talking to Potter. Seeing my face, Rose added, "I'm not even the one you said it to - merlin Liv, if it affected me this badly think how Al feels!"

"Potter's a git." I muttered. "He doesn't feel emotions."

Rose scoffed. "Try repeating that when he's sulking after losing a Quidditch match."

"That's _Quidditch,_ Rose, it brings out everyone's emotional side."

She got up and put her bag over her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" I asked, knowing too well what was coming.

" _I_ am going back to the library to finish my transfiguration homework, but _you_ are going to go find Al and apologise."

I grudgingly stood up and followed her down the corridor. Before we parted ways, Rose softly said:

"Whether you like it or not, Al's _family,_ Liv. If you mess with him, you mess with all of us."

And with those parting words of wisdom, she disappeared to the library.

* * *

During the rest of the day, I found myself subject to many cold looks from the Weasley-Potters. I'd yet to apologise to Potter, for the sole reason that I hadn't run into him yet. However, I did see a lot of his cousins, and it was clear that they were avoiding me. I felt it in the library, when Louis wouldn't make eye contact with me, despite the fact that we tended to pair up and do our our arithmancy homework together, and we'd been assigned an especially challenging essay by Vaughn just a few days ago. I felt it in in the corridors, when I bumped into Hugo and he hurried away immediately, instead of stopping to discuss the Quidditch league (in which the Harpies were currently kicking ass). And I felt it in the Great Hall during dinner, when my interactions with the Weasley-Potters were severely limited to an occasional "pass the salt", for fear of instigating an argument that would only make things worse.

But perhaps most strikingly (or unusually, whatever way you wanted to put it) was that I felt it most in the Gryffindor common room, when I sensed a pair of eyes on me. I turned, and my brown eyes locked with a pair of intense green ones, if only for half a second, before Potter turned away and left the common room.

* * *

As I hurried down the corridor, desperate to find Potter and set things straight between us, I ran into Fred and James.

 _Literally._

I felt strong hands steady me as I nearly fell, and then they quickly let go as if they'd been burnt when James saw that it was me. His eyes flashed with anger, and he looked as if he was about to say something, when Fred nudged him and muttered "It's not worth it, mate." in a resigned tone.

I felt the familiar ache of guilt well up inside of me. These people were practically my brothers, goddamnit! They were the ones I'd play pranks with, the ones I'd test Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products with, the ones I could count on to have a laugh with! And here I was hurting them, all because of my stupid feud with Potter.

"James, Fred, wait." I called out after them as they turned to leave, my voice hesitant.

James whirled around, hazel eyes blazing with anger. "Wait? Why should we bloody wait? So you can have a go at us about _our_ parents, and how we're so much of a _disappointment_? So you can tell us that we're not what the wizarding world wanted, when they heard that the _famous war heroes_ were having children?"

Behind him, Fred looked at me apologetically, but I could sense the concealed anger brimming beneath the surface. He was just as mad at me as James was, only he managed to keep it calm, if only to control the fuming James.

"No- I j-just wanted to apolo-" I started, but this time I was startled to hear Fred cut me off.

"Forget it, Adams." He said coldly. The use of my last name froze me into silence. "We don't want to hear any more about what you think of us or our _family_." And with that they turned and began to walk away.

Like hell was I going to let them get away.

I grabbed Fred's arm and turned him back around, forcing James to stop too.

"Come on, you guys." I pleaded, my eyes boring into them. "You know I didn't mean what I said. You know that whenever I get worked up stuff -"

"Slips out?" Supplied James, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

" _No_. And that's exactly what makes me such a bad person." It seemed that I'd confused the pair, since they both turned around completely and looked at me with a slight interest hidden beneath their anger.

Thank merlin for that family's curiosity, is all I can say. When it became clear they weren't going to try and run off again, I continued.

"When I get mad, stuff doesn't just _slip out_. I say things with the _intention_ of hurting. And that's a thousand times worse than having something slip out, because you do it on purpose. But _because_ it's done with the aim of hurting, you must know that it's not actually what I think of you?" My voice softened. "I was pissed off, and I wanted to hurt him, and I regret it. The only thing I didn't count on was hurting the rest of his family in the process. If I could take it back I would, but I can't, so all that's left to say is that I'm sorry. "

Honestly, I hadn't told them half of the truth. I'd neglected the part about how _manipulative_ I was about the whole thing. How I'd push and prod until I knew which jabs would fall away and which would strike. Until I knew exactly what words would get through the armour and strike my opponent in the heart.

Fred and James stood in front of me, looking thoughtful. Both still looked angry (in different ways) but they seemed to be considering my apology.

Finally, James spoke. "Well," he began. His voice was lacking friendliness, but it was not altogether harsh. "In all honesty I don't think you meant it. But that doesn't change the fact that you said it, nor the fact that you said it _knowing_ it would hurt Al - who I might remind you is my _bloody brother!_ In the end, it isn't us or Rose or Louis that you've got to apologise to - it's Al. Because most of us aren't mad because of what you said, we're mad because of the fact that you messed with our family. And you, of all people, should know how close our family is. So if you get Al to forgive you, you're good with all of us."

With that, he and Fred continued to walk down the corridor, and I let them go.

From the way they'd spoken, and how worked up most of their family had been throughout the day, it seemed that what I'd said had really hurt Potter. I was surprised; Potter seemed like someone who wouldn't let a few insults get to him.

 _What was it they said about sticks and stones?_

* * *

 **A/N:** So guys, updates won't be that regular at least for this month since I have final exams coming up, but rest assured that I'll try and update as much as I possibly can! It's just that I'd rather give you guys good chapters after taking some time rather than quick but disappointing chapters :) Drop a review with some constructive criticism if you can, I'd love to hear what you have to say!


	3. In Which I Try to Put Things Right

Once I'd spent a minute or so lost in my thoughts, I came back to my senses and realised that I should be apologising to Potter. Only the problem was, I had no idea where he'd gone. After my run-in with James and Fred, I had an even smaller chance of actually managing to find Potter, especially considering the fact that he was most _definitely_ avoiding me.

And let's be clear here - when Al Potter makes up his mind to do something, he'll stick to it. That's probably one of the reasons we can never seem to get along - our matching inability to give in only serves to drive the both of us insane whenever we're placed in a room together.

So now I was faced with a somewhat impossible task: locate Potter somewhere in this ridiculously huge castle, work up the courage to approach him, and swallow my obnoxious Gryffindor pride so I could apologise. I sighed and began to walk, my footsteps echoing throughout the corridor.

What a fantastic way to spend a Saturday night.

* * *

After half an hour of wandering the castle halls, I was about ready to call it a night. There was only so much I could search for someone before just admitting that they didn't want to be found, right? The knowledge of the mounting pile of transfiguration homework sitting in my bag wasn't helping matters either. I could always just return to the dormitories for today and then try to find Potter tomorrow.

But I knew this was just my usual method of avoidance rearing its ugly head. Tomorrow would turn into the day after, then the week after. I'd never get round to it, because let's face it - I'm just as stubborn as Potter is.

I sighed, knowing there was no way out. I wasn't about to give up now; the castle wasn't endless and the later I left it the less chance I would have of him actually listening to me (not that the chances were high to begin with). Making up my mind, I decided that I would take a break for five minutes, then resume my search.

I made my way to the side of the corridor and leant against the wall, sliding down so I ended up sitting on the floor, my legs tucked up in front of me. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the wall. I was lost in my daydreams until a familiar voice drew me out of my thoughts.

"So I'm assuming you still haven't found Al then?"

"Go away Liam, I've had this conversation too many times today and I don't want to go through it again." I muttered, eyes still closed.

I felt the presence of someone next to me and turned my head, opening my eyes to see my older brother with an amused smile on his face.

"Well, if you're so sick of it then why don't you just sort it out instead of moping around in the corridors as if you've been tasked with babysitting Aunt Lucinda's children for the third year in a row?"

I stared at him with a scandalised expression on my face.

"You try tackling little Charlie as he tries to eat everything in a five metre radius! I swear at one point he wound up trying to eat my bloody hair!" I shuddered, reliving the horrifying ordeal I went through at our last family gathering.

Liam rolled his eyes. "Please, I've been through it all before - who do you think babysat all the times when you were too young? And might I remind you that I've had to babysit _you_ before as well."

"We're literally only two years apart - and for the record I would have been a delightful kid to babysit!"

"Right… Tell that to my completely destroyed PlayStation, broken Firebolt, ruined Gobstones set - "

"Alright, alright." I grumbled. "You've made your point. But can I just say that mum could have definitely fixed every single one of those in a heartbeat."

"And you think dad would have let her? He would have made some case about how magic makes us take everything for granted and eventually persuaded mum not to fix it just to teach us a lesson."

For all its perks, being part of a halfblood family sure has its downfalls. While articles may claim it's the "ideal way of life" because of the "perfect balance between magic and muggle", I beg to differ. What those articles don't talk about is the constant battle between two completely different ways of life. Everything becomes a question of "Do we do this the magic way or the muggle way?" - washing the dishes, packing suitcases, travelling. Mum says magic's more convenient, dad says we mustn't be too reliant on it. Where does that put me and Liam, you ask? In an awkward tug of war between the two, that's where.

But in all honesty, you kind of forget that side of it when you're sitting in the living room eating chocolate frogs and fizzing whizbees while a movie plays on the TV. Both magical and muggle life have become so ingrained in us, it's hard to imagine one without the other.

"So what's the latest spat between you and Al about, then? It all seems a bit more dramatic than usual." Liam was grinning - he always did find me and Potter entertaining.

"Essentially the same old stuff - he burnt my hair off, I yelled at him, he made some fun of me, I made some fun of him - nothing out of the ordinary."

Liam's eyes widened. "He burnt your hair off? _That's_ why it's so short? I thought you'd just fancied a change - I was about to bring up the inevitable shock and disappointment you'll cause mum when we go home."

"I was beginning to doubt whether you'd actually noticed - wouldn't surprise me if you hadn't to be honest. And are we not going to talk about the fact that I literally had my hair _burnt off_ by the Gryffindor Quidditch team's seeker? Personally I think you should kick him off the team - I mean it's your responsibility as captain to make sure we have a team that gets along, you know with Quidditch being a _team sport_ and everything."

He laughed. "Liv, believe it or not, you and Al not getting along isn't a problem at all. Apart from entertaining the rest of the team, the way you both compete against each other means each of you is at the top of their game, all the time. You each push the other to their limit, and end up pushing the entire team to victory."

I slumped back against the wall, defeated, as he continued. "But back to the point - what _did_ happen with you and Al this time? Because from what I've heard it seems like the rest of the Potter-Weasleys got caught in the crossfire."

"It's nowhere near as dramatic as you're making it out to be!" I defended myself. "It's no different from any other time we've fought, it was just a bit more personal, that's all."

"And by 'personal' you mean that you brought up his family being famous, even though you _know_ that's a touchy subject for not just him, but every single cousin of his that goes to this school. Smart thinking there, sis."

"Oi!" I elbowed him. "You're supposed to be making me feel better, not make me feel bad all over again. I've had this conversation five different times today, I don't need one more person calling me out on my dumb decisions."

"Correction - I'm supposed to help you do the right thing. You'll end up feeling better after you sort things out."

"And yet no one seems to be having this talk with Potter, despite the fact that he both burnt my hair off _and_ initiated the encounter in the common room!"

Liam rolled his eyes. "You don't know that. I know for a fact that Rose has gone and given him the same talk you got about putting her in between your arguments, while Erin threatened him with her beater's bat after she saw how upset you were. And I'm assuming you didn't see him at breakfast? Completely drenched because of a personal raincloud hovering over his head, courtesy of your dear friend Cassie."

I couldn't help but grin at that. It was relieving to see that my friends had my back and saw the spat for what it was - a mistake on both our parts.

Coming back to the issue at hand, he hesitantly pressed further. "But Liv, I know you, and I know you wouldn't have said the things you did unless he'd already hit a sore spot. So tell me what happened, _properly_."

Refusing to meet his eye, I spoke, my voice barely a whisper.

"He said some things… That reminded me of Izzy."

All traces of amusement left my older brother's face, as he put an arm around my shoulder.

"Liv, it's been years. I don't want to invalidate you or anything, but you've got to find a way to move on. And what's more, I won't be here forever - "

"I know, I know." I interrupted him. "But I'm telling you I've got it all under control." I was praying that I'd done a better job convincing Liam than I'd done convincing myself, but the look on his face told me otherwise.

"Right, because 'having it under control' means going to sleep in tears and being plagued with nightmares after someone says something that's barely even related to what happened." At my questioning look, he added, "Cassie told me. She's worried about you, Liv. We all are. And I _know_ its hard for you but that's why you've _got_ to tell someone. Once I graduate this year, you'll have no one to rely on. Do you really want to spend your last few years at Hogwarts completely alone, with no one to turn to?"

"Floo powder's still a thing, I'll be able to talk to you if I need." I muttered under my breath, but it seemed my dear brother wasn't about to give in so easily.

"I still don't see why you can't tell Erin, Cassie and Rose. Or even just one of them. They're always the first to let me know when something's up with you - they care about you so much Liv, and they'd be ready to help you, you just have to let them in."

"For the last time -"

" _No_." He said, sounding frighteningly like our mother. "They have stuck by you for the past five years, through your moods and nightmares, without asking a single question. The least you could do is provide them with a half decent explanation!"

"But you don't get it!" I burst out in frustration. "You don't get it at all Liam! It's been six years, I need to get over it. I can't keep relying on different people, because in the end, it's something that I've got to deal with on my own. Fine, you graduate this year and I tell Cassie, Rose and Erin. But what happens when _we_ graduate, and probably go our separate ways? Then I'm left all alone yet again, and have to find someone else. It's a never-ending cycle and I am _not_ putting myself through that!"

At this point, a couple of tears had begun to leak out of my eyes, as the memories I had fought so hard to suppress resurfaced. I leaned into my brother's shoulder, thankful for the source of comfort, and trying not to bawl my eyes out.

"It's alright, Liv." He said, soothingly. I could sense the concern and worry in his voice. "I shouldn't have pushed the idea of telling people onto you. It's just that I really am worried, and I'd feel so guilty leaving you here if I knew you had no one to turn to."

Once my tears had stopped, he continued to speak.

"I know you think telling people will make it harder for you to get over it, but you don't realise that relying on people doesn't make you weak. Talking to people will _help_ you Liv, you'll actually be able to confront what happened and deal with it." At the look on my face he realised it was enough. "I won't push it any further, but promise me you'll at least consider it?"

I nodded, still not trusting myself to form words. Merlin, when had I started becoming so emotional?

 _You know the answer to that._ A voice whispered in my head. _It started on a cold December morning, six years ago._

And what I would give for that day to have never happened.

We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, enjoying each other's company. After joining Hogwarts, we both rarely saw each other, besides Quidditch practice between classes. One of the side effects of boarding schools I suppose - your friends become your family. Not to say I didn't love my friends with all my heart - it was just nice to be able to spend some time alone with Liam in school every now and then. To drive away the homesickness, and remember that I did in fact have a life outside Hogwarts as well.

When I had become significantly calmer he carefully got up, ruffling my hair in the process.

"Alright, I've got to go back to the common room." He rolled his eyes. "Blake's set a ridiculous essay on human transfiguration for tomorrow, and I haven't even started. A word of advice: drop out of school before NEWTs - it's not worth it." He began to leave, sauntering down the hall.

He was at the end of the corridor before he turned his head to look at me, a smile on his face.

"Oh, and if you're looking for Al, I think I saw him go up to the Astronomy Tower."

And with that parting piece of wisdom he disappeared around the corner.

* * *

By the time I'd reached the Astronomy Tower, I was cursing Potter and his obscenely inconvenient places to hide out. Honestly, climbing up those flights of stairs makes Quidditch training pale in comparison - if he was hanging out in places like this all the time and climbing all those flights of stairs on a day to day basis, no wonder he was so -

I stopped myself there, not letting my thoughts wander into uncharted territory. Potter may be attractive, sure, but I refused to become one of those obsessive Potter-fangirls. His good looks didn't change the fact that his personality was like a blast-ended skrewt - mildly entertaining until it exploded in your face.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best of analogies, but the point remains that I was _not_ about to overlook his personality flaws just because of his chiseled jaw and lean yet muscular body with defined abs that -

Right, that's enough for today. Hormones, your time has elapsed. Time to call back in the common sense and rationality.

When I walked through the arch that connected the stairway to the room at the top of the tower, the first thing I saw was Potter, leaning over a ledge and staring at the sky. I couldn't blame him - the view from this tower, the tallest in the castle, was always breathtaking. My eyes travelled to see the twinkling stars, and it struck me that it must be past our curfew. After all, I had spent quite a while sitting in the corridor talking to Liam.

It seemed that Potter hadn't heard me enter - either that or he was ignoring me, at this point either one seemed plausible. Not sure how to get his attention, I decided to join him in his apparent stargazing.

He stiffened when I leaned over the ledge next to him, resting my chin on my hand.

"It's beautiful, isn't it." I said, unable to bear the suffocating silence that weighed down upon us, and wanting to say anything to break it.

He hummed noncommittally, apparently intent on barely acknowledging my presence.

"I used to come here when I was younger." I continued, determined to press forward. "When I missed home. I don't know why it helped, but looking out at the stars and feeling so close to them - it felt peaceful. Like nothing existed or mattered at all. It was just me and the night sky."

I snuck a look at him out of the corner of my eye. His dark hair stuck up messily in all directions as usual, and his facial expression was impassive, revealing absolutely nothing. Finally, his stoic silence was too much for me to bear, and I whirled around to face him.

"You weren't entirely in the right too, you know!" I snapped. "You think you can just set fire to my hair, make fun of me in the common room, and not expect anything in return?"

 _Shit_. That was not how this was supposed to go. Why was it, that no matter how hard I tried, Potter always managed to get a rise out of me, even by doing absolutely nothing?

He finally turned to me, eyes blazing. "Hold on Adams, what I initiated was banter. It was nothing different to what we usually do. _You_ were the one that went and made things personal, bringing my family into it the way you did." I was shocked to see a twinge of hurt lurking in the depths of the green in his eyes. Had my words really affected him that much?

I sighed. "Yes, _I know_." I said, with as much sincerity as I could muster. "And I _am_ sorry about that, I really am. I know your family's a sore spot, and I don't know why I brought it up. I guess in the heat of the moment I was just so pissed off that I wanted to say something that would actually _get_ to you."

For a moment, he froze, apparently shocked by my apology. It was then that I realised we had both subconsciously leaned in closer to each other, so that our faces were only inches apart. I could clearly see the sharp angles of his face, the smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks, and his bright green eyes, glowing in the flickering torchlight of the Astronomy Tower. If I leaned in just a little bit closer…

In a moment of clarity, we both seemed to realise our position and moved back, breaking the spell. His hand went to the back of his neck, awkwardly rubbing it, and he didn't meet my eyes as he said:

"Well, I guess I owe you an apology too. Mainly for the scene in the common room - and about what I said at the end, I had no idea it would affect you like that."

My throat closed up at the mention of his final words that night, and the onslaught of nightmares they'd caused. At my silence, he looked up at me questioningly, concern evident in the way his brow furrowed.

"Adams, why did that have such an effect on you anyway? I've never seen you let words get to you like that before."

It's true. In all our years of sparring and rivalry, both me and Potter have said some horrible things to each other, but none seemed to have crossed the line until yesterday. Honestly, I understood why he was confused - the things he'd said about me being 'self-obsessed' and not giving a second thought to anyone else was something the Liv Adams _he_ knew would brush off and ignore. How was he supposed to know that his words had some truth to them, and hit at something deep inside me I'd hoped to forget?

"It's nothing." I said, in response to his question. An unconvincing answer, but it'll have to do.

"No, it's not nothing." He said, edging closer once again, eyes boring into mine. "Why did you run off back to the dormitory like that? What did I say that was so horrible?"

"Drop it, Potter." I said, harshly. Then, feeling guilty, as he was only trying to help, I amended, "It just brought up some unpleasant memories, that's all."

He continued to look at me, and I was struck by how _piercing_ his eyes were. It was like they could see past all my bullshit, to what was hiding beneath.

"Do you want to talk about it?" His voice was low, and somewhat comforting. Merlin, when did we go from yelling each other's heads off to me telling him my deepest fears and secrets? I decided to stop this before it went any further.

"No." I said, not meeting his eyes. "Not now. Maybe I will someday though." I don't know why I added the bit at the end, I was sure that I wouldn't tell Potter about what happened, especially since I'd yet to tell my closest friends.

Deciding that the change in atmosphere was too much to handle, I turned around and began to leave the Astronomy Tower, before I did something I'd regret.

"Bye, Potter. See you in charms." I called over my shoulder, as nonchalantly as possible given the fact that for whatever reason I was suddenly feeling incredibly skittish.

He waited until I'd reached the entrance to the stairway. "Hey, Adams?"

I turned slightly, eyebrow arched.

The corner of his mouth quirked up into a lopsided smile. "Don't change your hair back. It looks nice like this."

Ordinarily, this would have led to me yelling at Potter yet again for telling me what to do with my hair, after burning it off himself. But it seemed that his unexpected compliment had shocked me into silence, since no witty retort made itself available to me. I blinked at him for a moment, before quickly muttering a thanks, giving him a hesitant smile, and hurrying down the staircase.

 _It must be because he's never complimented you before_. I tried to reassure myself. _It was just a surprise, that's all._

And I continued down the staircase, faster than need be, leaving Potter standing in the amber torchlight of the Astronomy Tower behind me.


	4. Bad Mornings Lead into Half-Decent Days

When I woke up the next morning, I was upside down. So, as any sane person that was hanging upside down first thing in the morning would do, I let out a very loud, very unladylike shriek.

 _"Cassandra Williams, let me down right now!"_

My so-called best friend grinned up at me from her yoga mat. "I was wondering when you'd wake up - you've been like that for about fifteen minutes."

It should be illegal for someone to be this peppy this early in the morning. It was then that I saw the numbers on the clock that sat on my bedside table.

" _Cassie_ _!"_ I screeched, absolutely livid. "Why on earth would you wake me up _this_ _early in the morning_?"

I heard Rose's muffled voice from under her covers. "Merlin Cass, let her down before she wakes up the entire castle."

Begrudgingly, Cassie waved her wand and I landed in an undignified heap on my bed.

"Thank you," I huffed, my voice smothered by the pillow my face was stuffed into. "Now will you _please_ tell me why you've woken me up this early?"

Cassie smiled sweetly at me. "Well Liv, you see, there's this tiny thing called _the Quidditch team_ that you tried out for in third year. Fun fact: that entails Quidditch practice."

I groaned. Curse Liam and his absurd training schedules. As I slowly detached myself from my bed and started to get ready, I heard Cassie say:

"Oh, and by the way - it's your turn to wake up Erin."

My eyes widened. This was _not_ going to end well.

* * *

After thirty minutes, two cups of coffee, and a life threatening duel with a half asleep Erin, I arrived at the Quidditch pitch, disgruntled roommate in tow. The team was already lined up, with Liam pacing in front of them and giving a pep talk of sorts. Either way, to my ears it sounded a lot more like a constant stream of verbal abuse. He eyed me and Erin as we joined the team, but didn't comment on our lateness. He was probably too afraid of being on the receiving end of Erin's infamous beater's bat - so much for that Gryffindor courage.

"Alright you lot." His voice boomed across the pitch. Despite his generally laid-back attitude to life, my brother made a formidable Quidditch captain. Sometimes, it was hard to believe older-brother-Liam and Quidditch-Captain-Liam were the same person.

"The final against Ravenclaw is next month, and with the way you lot are going we're going to get our sorry asses kicked all the way to China!" Well, that was a bit extreme I'd say. Sure, the Claws' team were good, and they may have won last year, but they were far from impossible to beat.

"Right, we're starting with ten laps around the court, and then we'll practice the plays we've been working on. Clear?"

There were scattered responses. Liam rolled his eyes. "I know its early in the morning, but could we at least _try_ for some enthusiasm?"

A half hearted sound of agreement made its way through the team. Apparently realising he wasn't going to get anything better from us, Liam sighed. We took it as the sign to start warm-up, and so commenced the most gruelling two hours of my life.

Who was I kidding, I did this every other day. Honestly, what was third year me _thinking_ , signing me up for this torture? But I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't secretly enjoy it - after all, there was no feeling in the world quite like Quidditch. The sound of the wind rushing past you, the fire in your muscles as you pushed yourself to the limit, the feeling of satisfaction as you mastered a particularly difficult move - it was exhilarating. The Quidditch pitch was the one place where it all made sense, where everything in my life melted away and all that mattered was me, my teammates, and the familiar weight of the quaffle in my hand.

As me, James and Liam took a break from running through our hawkshead formation, my eyes wandered around the pitch to see how the rest of my teammates were getting on. Elizabeth Wood was helping Fred and Erin improve their aim; her face was set in determination as she dodged bludger after bludger pelted at her by our two beaters. While James was a chaser with Liam and me, Al was the team's seeker. Although I had my fair share of issues with him, I definitely couldn't refute the younger Potter brother's skill on the Quidditch pitch. I scanned the pitch for the familiar head of messy black hair, and surely enough, I saw it zooming through the air, all but a blur as Al raced after the snitch, no doubt trying to improve his previous time. His face was scrunched up in the picture of concentration as he hunched over his broom, urging it to go faster, and no one in their right mind, not even me, could deny that he was in his element.

"Oi, Liv!" I turned to see James grinning at me, his hand ruffling his reddish-brown hair. Merlin, what was it with these Potter boys and their hair? If I had a sickle for every time either of them touched it, I'd be rich enough to buy enough Honeydukes' to bribe Rose for every bit of homework we got until we graduated!

"When you're done ogling my brother, we can try for another go at this play." Apparently news of mine and Potter's conversation in the Astronomy Tower had spread, since his entire extended family was back on speaking terms with me. Although if I'm perfectly honest, I think Cassie yelling at James about his "double standards" and how his little brother "screwed up too" also had something to do with it. Either way, James was grinning at me now, obviously proud of himself for having noticed me watching Al play, since the older Potter was hardly what one would call _observant_.

"Git." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"But you know you love me." He quipped back, the grin never leaving his face. And in a strange sense, it was true. With all the summers I had spent with Rose's family, James had become someone I could rely on through the years. Sure, I would never be as close to him as I was with Liam, but I still couldn't imagine life without him and his good humour.

"Right you two, that's enough of a break." Liam butted in, ignoring the fact that stopping for a grand total of two minutes hardly counts as a 'break'. "We're not leaving this pitch until we get this play down perfectly."

I looked at my watch, then at Liam, completely scandalised. "But breakfast finishes in half an hour!"

He quirked a brow. "Didn't you eat anything before you came down?"

"You know _everyone_ eats after practice, right? Except Fred, since he can somehow down an entire plateful of bacon and eggs and have it digested by the time he gets to the changing rooms." At this point, I was glaring at our absolute _idiot_ of a captain with the force of an angry herd of hippogriffs. After all, you threaten my breakfast, you threaten me. You threaten me, I make sure you regret it. Screw familial loyalty.

"Well then, let's hope we get this formation right soon, for the sake of the team."

That's it - I'm cutting off all ties with this so-called 'brother' of mine. Or even worse, I'll get mum to put _him_ on babysitting duty at the next family gathering, see how he likes it.

As for now, I'll have to settle for getting this damn play right, so I could go and have some bloody breakfast.

* * *

Erin and I trooped into the Great Hall fifteen minutes later, out of breath after running all the way from the Quidditch Pitch to the castle. We were running short on time and decided to prioritise food over showering, at least for the moment, much to Cassie's displeasure.

We sat down, me next to Cassie and Erin next to Rose directly across from us. Cassie wrinkled her nose at a piece of dried mud that had fallen off my quidditch robes onto the bench, but said nothing, knowing fully well that I was not to be messed with before I had gotten food into my stomach.

However, after the sleeve of my robe brushed hers, resulting in an ugly smear of dried mud across the otherwise pristine fabric, she snapped.

"For god's sake, could the both of you not have _showered_ before you came traipsing in here? I'm trying to eat too you know, and the constant trail of dirt you release with every movement isn't helping!"

And here I was thinking Cassie was supposed to be the morning person.

"I would have," I began, as I cast a quick _scourgify_ over myself, while Erin did the same. "If it wasn't for the fact that our captain is a cruel, heartless _tyrant_ who wants nothing more than to see us suffer."

A flying bread roll hit the side of my head, and I whirled around to see Liam pointedly talking to one of his friends. "You know, it really is quite a shame that some of our team members just _can't seem to show a little dedication_ … I guess we'll have to remedy that with some more laps next practice." A sly grin graced his features at the end of his sentence, and I knew it was directed at me, along with the bread roll.

Rolling my eyes at my brother's childish antics, I turned my head to look at Rose, who was suddenly looking absolutely horrified. When I met her gaze, her eyes widened and I saw her try to motion to Cassie, who apparently kicked Erin under the table causing her to almost spill her pumpkin juice.

"Merlin, woman - what was that for?" She demanded, glaring at Cassie. Then she froze, as her eyes registered something behind me, and she abruptly got up.

"Right guys, we'd best be going to class now. Don't want to be late." A nervous laugh escaped her mouth.

Wait, since when did _Erin_ care about being late to class?

Cassie followed Erin's lead, standing up and dusting off her robes, while Rose did the same.

Something wasn't right.

"Guys…" I asked, apprehension twisting my gut. "What's going on?" I focused my gaze on Rose, who was the weakest liar out of all of us.

She stared at me. "Nothing, we just don't want to be late." Others wouldn't have seen through it, but after so many years of friendship I could I hear the slight change in pitch of her voice that told me not to believe her.

Against my better judgement, I turned my head around in the direction she had been staring, only to come across Michael Davies and Helena Lancaster passionately sucking face at the ravenclaw table.

Well, that was enough to make a girl want to throw up her breakfast.

The colour must have drained out of my face, because before I knew it Cassie's hand was on my back, leading me out of the Great Hall with Rose and Erin not far behind us. Once we were out, they stopped and stared at me, waiting for a reaction.

See, the whole reason me and Davies broke up in the first place was because Rose caught him snogging Lancaster in a broom closet during prefect rounds. We had been together for around half a year at that point, and never during that time period did I think he'd be one to cheat.

Turns out I was wrong.

I still remember confronting him about it.

 _"Michael, we need to talk." He looked up from his transfiguration essay and raised his eyebrows._

 _"Can it wait? I'm nearly done." He seemed oblivious to the nervous quaver in my voice. Either that or he was making an effort to ignore it._

 _"No." I insisted, trying to be firm for once. I'd had my doubts about our relationship for a while now, but Michael had a talent for making me forget all about them whenever I had tried to bring it up._

 _He sighed, and put his quill down. The silence in the library was overwhelming, and would have drowned me whole if it wasn't punctuated by the sounds of our regular breathing._

 _"Well, what is it?" He pressed, clearly wanting to get back to his essay._

 _"Michael…" I hesitated, not sure how to bring it up. "I know."_

 _He snorted, a sound that was far too loud in the silence. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that, love."_

 _I steeled myself, and continued. "I know about you and Lancaster."_

 _His eyes widened, before he quickly schooled his features into another expression, one I hadn't seen on his face before._

 _Indifference._

 _"Merlin, Olivia - whatever you heard, nothings happened between us." He'd always insisted on calling me by my full name, never Liv, saying it made him feel special._

 _"So you didn't snog in the fourth floor broom closet on Monday night?" He looked confused for a moment, before letting a spark of irritation flash in his eyes._

 _"Weasley…" He muttered, shaking his head. He then looked up at me earnestly, blue eyes latching onto mine in a way he knew would make my resolve waver. "I'm so sorry. I was drunk and so was she, it was a mistake and one that I've regretted ever since. I didn't want to tell you and ruin what we had, I knew you would never trust me again…"_

 _"And you think finding out like this is going to make me trust you any more?" I spat the words out, as if they would burn me if I kept them in for too long. The hurt was coiling up inside of me, a spring that was gradually tightening until I snapped._

 _"God Michael, first you cheat, then you hide it from me and lie about it even after I confront you, and finally you end up trying to pin the whole thing on my apparent 'trust issues'? How badly can you screw up?"_

 _I packed my things and left, turning around when I heard him try to follow me._

 _"No Michael - we're done. Don't come after me, please."_

The sad thing was, I'd had reason to end it even before the cheating. The way he kept pulling me away from my friends, getting angry if I so much as _glanced_ at one of the Potter-Weasley boys, or the way he kept dismissing every concern and doubt that I had as something in my imagination. And yet, for some reason I stayed with him. I'd like to think it was because I found him safe, reliable, charming. The first few months of our relationship were bliss, both of us lost in our own world. Then, when the cracks in the illusion started to show, I think I was just too weak to end it.

Either way, I told myself that day that I was _done_ with Michael Davies, which was why I was so shocked when he came up to me two weeks ago.

 _"Olivia?" He sounded wary, and probably with good reason. We hadn't talked at all since our break-up, which was an impressive feat when you considered the fact that we both shared more than a couple of classes together._

 _I sighed, sick of the tension between us. "What do you want, Davies?"_

 _He looked startled by the use of his last name, but seemed to accept it._

 _"I just wanted to say… I'm sorry - for everything."_

 _"Bit late for that now, wouldn't you say?"_

 _"I mean it Olivia, I was a complete dick to you, and given the chance to do our entire relationship over I would, just for the chance to make it right."_

 _Taking my silence as a sign that I wasn't going to leave, he continued._

 _"I'm not saying you have to take me back - merlin knows I don't deserve you - but maybe we could start talking again? We don't even have to be close but oh my_ god _Olivia I miss your voice and your jokes and your laugh so much and I'd do anything to be even a fraction of as close as we were before."_

 _He looked up at me, blue eyes staring into brown, and the strength I'd gathered began to weaken._

 _By no means was I willing to get back together with him, but I couldn't deny that I missed his familiarity, his comfort._

 _I only had to say one word._

 _"Okay."_

After that day, the two of us had settled into a hesitant acquaintanceship. When Rose, Erin and Cassie lectured me about taking back that 'absolute pile of scum', I had to remind them that I hadn't forgiven him. This arrangement was just far better than the awkward silences we had been dealing with for the past few months. And I mean, if what he was saying was true, and Lancaster really _was_ just a drunken mistake… Well there's no telling what might happen in the future, right?

Wrong. Today's _episode_ at breakfast proved that Davies had lied when he told me him and Lancaster were done. The git probably hadn't noticed me come back from Quidditch Practice, and so felt free to kiss her in the Hall. Either way, it would have gotten to me eventually through the Hogwarts rumour-mill, so i don't know what he was thinking. Merlin, boys can be dense - you'd think that a ravenclaw would at least have some common sense.

I came back to the present, and looked at the expectant faces of my three best mates in front of me.

"Well?" Cassie prodded, always the impatient one. "Don't tell me you haven't got anything to say after _that_ spectacle."

Both Rose and Erin gave her matching glares, while I shrugged off her lack of tact.

"Well, it's not like we were together anyways. And at least now I know where he stands with this whole… thing."

All three of them looked at me in disbelief.

"That's it? Rose asked. "No crying sessions in the dorm?" She was the only one who sounded concerned.

"No ice-cream and rom-coms?" Cassie seemed vaguely put out.

"No need for me to beat anyone up?" Erin was definitely disappointed.

What a lovely group of friends I've got.

I cracked a smile at their reactions. "No guys, I really am fine. He isn't worth it." And while I didn't believe it at that instant, I was sure that I would in some time.

Okay, maybe with the help of a _couple_ of pints of ice-cream. After all, I'm only human.

I swiftly changed the subject, and before long we were laughing about god knows what as we made our way down to charms.

That is, until a voice sounded behind us.

"Rose! Wait up!"

The red head in question froze, before swearing under her breath and walking faster.

"Guys, it's Lysander," she muttered. "Come on, walk faster." At our questioning looks, she continued, "I'll tell you why once we make it to charms."

"But-" I started, my curiosity getting the better of me. However the fierce glare Rose sent my way was enough to get me to shut up. I did _not_ want to be on the receiving end of one of her nasty stinging hexes.

Apparently deciding he wasn't going to get anywhere with Rose, Lysander changed tactics.

"Liv!" His voice echoed down from the other end of the corridor. "I know you can hear me!"

 _Well yes Lysander, of course I can hear you with your voice booming down the corridor like a bloody foghorn._

If only we'd left breakfast a little later, it would have been impossible for him to locate us in the middle of the after breakfast crowd. Unfortunately, because of my bad relationship decisions, among other things, we'd wound up trying to lose someone in an empty corridor. Not exactly a set up for success.

We continued to power-walk, eyes fixed firmly on the corridor in front of us. We were too far ahead; there was no way Lysander could catch up with us. If we could just turn the corner and make it to the nearest secret passage…

A hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.

Cursing under my breath, I stopped and faced Lysander, forcing the others to come to halt as well.

"Stupid Quidditch training." Cassie muttered, as she turned around along with Rose and Erin. "No regular human being should be able to move that fast."

Ignoring her, Lysander began to speak, eyes wide.

"Have you seen Dom? I've been looking for her everywhere!"

Ah yes, looking for the girlfriend it seems. Well, judging from the panic plastered on Rose's face, the girlfriend in question doesn't want to be found. And who would we be to deny Dominique Weasley that right? After all, us girls have got to stick together.

…There's also the question of her being one of those people that wouldn't hesitate to chuck a hex your way if she decides you've wronged her. Even if it _is_ simply telling her boyfriend where she is when she doesn't want to be found. But that's an entirely different matter.

Lysander stared expectantly at us, awaiting an answer, and so the four of us exchanged quick glances and simultaneously started speaking:

"Isn't she in the girl's bathroom?"

"I saw her talking to Blake."

"I think she's tutoring some fourth year in the library."

"She's on the fourth floor snogging Zabini."

At our glares (and Lysander's expression of pure horror), Erin gave a nonchalant shrug.

"What? I figured that if we were going to blatantly lie, we might as well be creative about it."

This seemed to bring the older Scamander twin to attention again, and if possible, his eyes widened even more.

"What? Why are you lying? Did she tell you to? She's ignoring me isn't she? Did I do something wrong? I swear I haven't - "

"Stop!" Rose finally burst out, halting his steadily growing tirade of questions. At this point, Lysander looked like he was about to tear out his shaggy blond hair in frustration.

"Lysander, you _know_ that Dom wouldn't want us to tell you what's happening - _and no you haven't done anything wrong_ \- it's just that she has to deal with some… _stuff_ right now. She'll come to you when she's ready, just _calm down_ for goodness' sake!"

"Rose, at least tell the poor guy where she is," I said dryly, noting Lysander's expression. "He looks like he's about to have a bloody aneurysm, and I'm not cleaning up the mess."

Sighing, Rose relented. "She's locked herself up in her dormitory - at least that's what Louis told me. But knowing Dom there isn't a chance you're going to get in if she doesn't want you too."

Lysander's grey eyes acquired a steely tint. "We'll see about that," he said, voice determined.

"Have you ever considered the thought that she might not _want_ to see you?"

I tossed an irritated glance at Erin - now was _not_ the time to be riling Lysander up. He already seemed unstable enough at the moment, and I wasn't ready to push him to his limits just yet.

The sixth year shook his head. "It would be fine if it was for a little bit, but she's been avoiding me all week." It was disconcerting to see the telltale traces of anger in Lysander's usually pleasant voice. His eyes clouded over for a second, before returning to their original colour.

"Alright then, I'd best be getting along to find her. Thanks you lot!" He left us with a wave and a small smile.

And I always thought Dom was the temperamental one in their relationship.

Once Lysander had gone out of earshot, Cassie, Erin and I all turned to face Rose, probably with identical expressions on our faces. Well, except Erin, since she couldn't raise one eyebrow (a fact that the rest of us would never stop teasing her about).

"So?" Cassie prompted Rose, who looked resigned to her fate. After all, the Weasley-Potters' cousin loyalty may be strong, but Erin, Cassie and I were a force to be reckoned with. I figure that if we put our minds to it, we could get even James Potter, the boy who practically bleeds red and gold, to question his Gryffindor loyalty.

Just as Rose opened her mouth to speak, the unmistakeable sounds of students leaving the cafeteria drifted towards us.

"Not now," Rose said, looking at us meaningfully. "I don't want it overheard and finding its way to the rumour-mill."

I bit back a complaint, knowing she had a point. After all, there was no way I was ready to get hexed by Dominique for letting her secret (whatever it was) enter the gossip of Hogwarts. Somewhat begrudgingly, we let ourselves be engulfed by the crowd of students, making our way to charms and talking about the Bent-Winged Snitches' latest song.

"I mean, it's not anything special," Cassie said, as we walked into the charms classroom and took our seats. "The fact that I listened to it once and fell asleep halfway through the second song says enough."

"Cass, the only reason you fell asleep was because it was 3 AM and you were boring yourself to death with that herbology essay," Rose said, with a roll of her eyes.

"They've made a comeback!" I said, indignantly. "I'll be the first to admit they fizzled out after their performance at the Quidditch World Cup Final all those years ago, but now they're making their way back up the ladder!"

"Either way, their name is terrible." Erin wrinkled her nose. "What good is a snitch with bent-wings? It's dysfunctional and useless, that's what it is - just like their music."

Cassie sent Erin an appreciative grin, while I crossed my arms in defiance. Unfortunately, before I could respond, Professor Blake walked in and placed her books on her desk with an ominous _thud_.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood," Cassie muttered from next to me.

"Miss Williams, if you have something to say I suggest you share it with the whole class."

I looked up to see Professor Blake's icy blue eyes fixed upon us. After a beat of silence, she rose from her seat and began to take the class.

Five minutes in, I saw writing appear at the top of a spare piece of parchment on my desk.

 ** _So, I'm assuming you guys want to know about Dom and Lysander now? - Rose_**

I felt a smile make its way onto my face. In second year, Rose mastered a charm that would let us write on our own parchment and have it show up on the others'. It made communicating in classes with strict professors a whole lot easier, since note passing was usually much easier between pairs rather than with four people.

 ** _You sure? Aren't you going to pay attention to Blake so we can bribe you for notes later? - Liv_**

 ** _Liv, you're not supposed to_ tell _her that. - Cassie_**

 ** _It's not like Rose doesn't already know anyway. - Erin_**

 ** _Exactly. And no, I'm not paying attention today. It's a revision class. We're not being taught anything new, so why bother? - R_**

 ** _Okay, I'm not complaining. Come on then Rose - what's up with Dom? - C_**

 ** _Right. Well, basically… remember Charlie Donovan's party near the end of last summer? - R_**

 ** _Um… not particularly? - L_**

 ** _Rose, we haven't all got sixth year cousins. - E_**

 ** _Are you serious? That party basically set the scene for this year! There were just as many hook-ups as there were break-ups, and believe me there were a lot of those. - C_**

 ** _Back to the point - so Donovan hosts this huge party, and it's supposed to be amazing. Problem is, Dom's grounded for whatever reason. - R_**

 ** _So she sneaks out? - L_**

 ** _Exactly. Except she doesn't mean to be gone the whole night, just until around 11. - R_**

 ** _And…? - C_**

 ** _She got drunk, forgot and spent the night with Lysander didn't she. - E_**

 ** _…Possibly. Okay yes she did. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur freaked when she didn't show up - as far as they knew she was staying with Roxanne, but when they flooed Uncle George's place she wasn't there. They tried everything but couldn't find her, so when she came back in the morning Aunt Fleur went completely nuts. - R_**

 ** _Okay… But I still don't see why this is such a huge deal. Why is this threatening to tear Dom and Lysander apart? I thought she'd get yelled at and even more grounded, but what else? - C_**

 ** _…Aunt Fleur may or may not be intent on sending Dom to Beauxbatons for seventh year. - R_**

 ** _What? You can't be serious! - L_**

 ** _Friendly reminder that long distance relationships are a thing. It's really not a big deal. - E_**

 ** _Erin, you_ know _Lysander. There's no way the poor boy could handle that. Besides, Aunt Fleur has it in her head that Lysander's a bad influence. Even though our family's friends with theirs, she won't budge and there's no way she's going to let Dom see Lysander in France. - R_**

 ** _Well knowing Dom, she's bound to find a way to sneak him over there. - L_**

 ** _But that's the thing! She doesn't want to have to keep their entire relationship secret - you know Dom's pretty much an open book. So now she's trying to find a way to get Aunt Fleur to let her stay. - R_**

 ** _And let me guess - she's not telling Lysander because she doesn't want him to start freaking out. - C_**

 ** _Exactly. - R_**

The rest of the lesson went by with us predicting the outcome of the Dom and Lysander situation. Our list of possible outcomes included: Dom and Mrs Weasley battling it out in the burrow during summer, Dom eloping with Lysander to Romania and camping out in her Uncle Charlie's basement, and several other less interesting (but more plausible) predictions.

Well, if I fail my OWLS at least I can rely on my backup plan of being a seer.

* * *

I slumped into my seat in the arithmancy classroom with a sigh.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood," an amused voice said from my left.

I turned to see Louis Weasley leaning back in the seat next to me, who looked highly entertained by my current state. He must have gotten used to me over the three years we've spent as arithmancy partners, because he didn't even bat an eye at the glare I sent his way.

"Well? What's the occasion? I mean, I know you're generally a moody person, but my ravenclaw intuition tells me there's something more."

"Bad morning." My voice was short and clipped.

"Come on, that's all you're going to give me?" He pouted. "After all these years of friendship, working on arithmancy together, playing quidditch against each other, this is how you treat me?"

Turns out the thirst for knowledge that all ravenclaws possess wasn't limited to academics - that house held the most gossip-hungry students in the whole school, and Louis was no exception. His eagerness to know what was happening in my life combined with my willingness to rant about things had lead to a friendship where conversation never ran dry. Of course, there was the added fact that Louis, despite his overly talkative mouth, was one of those people that would take a secret of yours to his grave, and he always seemed to know the best way to react to anything.

"Let's just say there's been a lot going on lately," I said, as I began to copy the problems from the board.

"Then by all means, spill the peas."

I snorted. "I think you mean spill the beans."

He brushed me off with a dismissive wave. "I'm a pioneer of new sayings. I don't need to stick to old outdated ones when I can reinvent them. Besides, peas are more likely to spill than beans."

After holding back another snort, I decided to bring up something that had actually been bothering me.

"So Louis, you know how after that whole fight with Potter - " He raised his hands to stop me.

"Hold it right there. It's in the past. Sure, it was a little disheartening but honestly? I wasn't even there, so don't feel like you have to apologise to me, Liv." He shuddered. "I hate it when our conversations get all serious."

I grinned. "Well, I'm glad that's out of the way."

"Good, now back to your bad day. Hey, that rhymed! Maybe poetry's my true calling after all! Right sorry, you were saying?"

"Well, Quidditch practice was a bit of a mess, for starters."

"Oh really?" He leaned forward, an interested gleam in his eye.

A gleam I recognised all too well.

"Nope, nothing," I said, coming to my senses. Louis was a chaser on the ravenclaw team; he was obviously intent on gathering as much information on the gryffindor team as he could so they could take us down again.

"Keep all the team secrets you want, but no matter what you do the cup's still going to be ours - _again_."

I sighed. When ravenclaw won the cup last year, Louis wouldn't let _anyone_ forget it. My bag was charmed to alternate between blue and bronze for a week straight, and don't get me started on the Weasley-Potter quidditch games at the burrow during the summer.

"Look, Weasley. I'm not going to reveal anything to you, except that you'd better kiss goodbye to that quidditch cup this year, because it's _ours_."

His eyes widened, and his hand went to his chest in faux shock. "Bringing out the last name? I'm hurt, _Adams_. Words can't even begin to express my complete and utter horror at this betrayal -"

Rolling my eyes at his dramatics, I brought the conversation back to hand.

"Right, so back to this bad day of mine - I come into breakfast after quidditch, and who do I see but Davies and Lancaster snogging at the ravenclaw table?"

"What?" He sounded scandalised. Just as I was about to thank him for feeling appropriately horrified on my behalf, he said:

"But I _sit_ at that table. How could I have not seen this?"

"Well apparently your observation skills aren't as amazing as you claim."

A mischievous expression appeared on his face, and I could only be thankful that I had never gotten on the bad side of Louis Weasley.

"Want me to hex him? There's a new spell I read about that's supposed to make your hair turn into tentacles."

I raised an eyebrow. "Does that include eyelashes and stuff or just the hair on the top of your head?"

"Well there's only one way to find out." He grinned. "The git's had it coming for a while now, keeps hogging the armchair by the fire as well."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why entrusting Louis Weasley with your problems is the best thing you can ever do.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ So that was a monstrously huge chapter - hope you all enjoyed! Be prepared for more Louis over the course of this story - he's actually one of my favourite characters in my mind even though I don't think I've done him as much justice as I could have here, but I'll work on it in future chapters. No Al here, but he'll be back next chapter, no worries :) Let me know what you think, whether it's about the new characters I've introduced or the parchment note-passing section (I wasn't too sure about that but it seemed like the best way of having them talk in class) or anything else. All suggestions/comments are welcome and appreciated, so drop a review!

Also, thanks so much to MoonstoneAndStarDust for pointing out an error I had in the original version of this!


	5. Must Be the Alcohol

**_A/N:_** I'm so sorry guys! Hopefully the length makes up for the lateness xx

* * *

Some days, I really wonder if I made a mistake by getting so involved with the Weasley-Potter family. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade them for the world, but there was no denying the fact that they could sometimes become a bit of a … _handful_.

The thing is, with a family that large and that close, everyone ended up being involved in everyone else's drama, whether they liked it or not. Even if there was only one specific cousin you were friends with, sooner or later you were dragged into the drama of the other members of the clan.

And with a family that big, there was a _lot_ of drama.

Which probably explained why I found myself in an empty classroom on a Wednesday morning, giving _Dominique Weasley_ of all people relationship advice. This, bearing in mind of course, the fact that I was probably the least qualified person to be giving her that sort of advice. Especially when you consider the fact that my last (and probably only) fully functioning relationship had ended in flames, and that a year down the line I still wasn't free from the aftermath. Regardless, that's what I ended up doing.

And to think all I wanted was to finish my charms essay.

* * *

I hurried through the corridor, my footsteps echoing on the marble floor and my bag slung on my shoulder. I had left Cassie, Rose and Erin in the dormitory - my free period wasn't long and I really needed to get that charms essay done before class, or Blake would have me in detention for the whole week. With Quidditch finals just around the corner, there was no way Liam would forgive me for missing practice because I was spending my time sorting out the second year charms students' essays in detention.

I stopped at the entrance to a classroom, briefly looking through the small window in the door. Upon seeing that it was empty, I entered.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten the fact that you could only really see half the classroom from the window in the door, which is why it was such a shock to hear the sound of quiet crying that abruptly stopped when I entered. Turning my head to the back of the classroom, I saw none other than Dominique Weasley, curled up on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs, which were folded up to her chest. She looked up at me with a tearstained face, and I was shaken to see the usually flawless Dom with red rimmed eyes and her hair a tangled mess around her head.

I made sure to shut the door to the classroom behind me and slowly moved towards Dom, unsure of how to handle the situation. I wasn't by any means bad at comforting people, but usually I only ever needed to comfort people I knew well. While I knew Dom from frequent visits to the Burrow, our relationship had never crossed over from easygoing to serious, and had certainly never been extended to one having to comfort the other when they were in tears.

"Dom?" I asked, as I approached her cautiously. She looked skittish, as if she would get up and leave any second, and it struck me that she rarely ever let anyone see her vulnerable side. I remembered her clenching her jaw every time she got injured at the Burrow (which happened more frequently than you'd think) but her eyes always held steely determination rather than tears. I suppose letting her emotions out in hiding was just a more intense version of that childhood refusal to show weakness.

When it seemed clear that she wasn't going to just get up and make a run for it, but also that she didn't seem intent on talking anytime soon, I continued to speak.

"Are you alright?" I cursed myself - what kind of question was that? She was obviously _not_ fine or she wouldn't be sitting in an empty classroom with tears streaming down her face.

Apparently, my sad attempt at comfort was enough to get Dom to talk.

"It's not a big deal." Her voice shook as she said it, clearly contradicting her point. Also, you know, the fact that her face was blotchy and she still hadn't stopped crying didn't help her case.

At my incredulous look, she gave a small watery smile.

"Okay, so it's not nothing," she conceded, as she stood up and went to sit on a table. I joined her, my anxious energy exhibiting itself in the swinging of my legs once I sat down on the table opposite hers.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her gently, trying to incorporate whatever I'd learned from Rose being the one who was skilled at comforting in our friendship.

In response, Dom handed me a letter.

"I got this at breakfast."

I opened it hesitantly, scanning the parchment that had turned Dom into such a mess.

 _Dear Dominique,_

 _I am letting you know that I spoke with Beauxbatons, and they said they would be happy to have you for seventh year. I don't want to hear any arguments about this - a year in France will be good for you. It is final, so you can tell all your friends and cousins. We can discuss this more during the easter break, but my decision will not change._

 _Maman_

It was clear from the brevity of the letter that Mrs Weasley was still _very_ mad. I looked up to see that Dom had composed herself, but her appearance was still enough to give herself away.

It was then that I remembered that I wasn't supposed to know any background information about what had caused this, so of course I had to play my part.

"What happened? Why is she sending you to France?" I tried to sound as confused as I could without going over the top, but Dom wasn't having any of it.

"I know Rose told you," she said bluntly. At my widened eyes, her lips quirked up into an imperceptible smile. "You don't have to look so scared, I'm not mad. And it's not your acting skills that gave you away."

I let out a relieved sigh, both because I wasn't about to be hexed by Dominique Weasley and because my lying skills hadn't deteriorated.

"Ly came and found me last week, said he'd found out where I was from Rose. I figured since you and your friends would have been with her, you were bound to get it out of Rose eventually."

"Right," I said, still cautious; as much as Dom seemed to be acting like she was fine, I knew she wasn't. "How did that conversation with Lysander go by the way?"

She grimaced. "Wasn't pretty. I didn't tell him what happened, just that there was stuff going on that I had to deal with."

"Specific."

"I couldn't tell him - you know he'd start freaking out! I got myself into this mess, I have to sort it out myself. Anyways, he got mad after that, we both said some things we shouldn't have, he left. End of story."

"So… are you guys, like…?" I let the unsaid question of whether they were still together hang in the air. While I needed to know what I was dealing with, I also didn't want to come off like a gossip hungry bint.

Dom's eyes began to water again at that, and I could have kicked myself. _Why_ hadn't I picked up something about comforting people from Rose during all our years of friendship?

"It's okay Dom, you don't need to tell me!" The words came out in a panicked mess, and did nothing to calm down the sixth year in front of me.

"I just - I don't know!" Her voice cracked. "I mean, I made a huge mistake last summer, but I honestly thought that my mum had gotten over it. I was expecting being yelled at some more and being cooped up in our house for the entirety of summer, but not being _shipped off to bloody France!_ " The tears started to spill.

"Merlin, I don't even know why I'm telling you this - you don't need to hear me whining about a mess that _I've_ gone and gotten myself into. But it's just that I _know_ Lysander and I wouldn't work out if I was in France, and I can't tell him because then he'll worry and he doesn't need that and -"

I hopped off the desk and reached forward to give Dom a hug. She was hesitant to respond at first, but soon enough her arms wrapped around me as well.

"Dom, listen to me," I said, trying to keep my voice as soothing as possible. "I know this all seems sudden and scary, but you're going to work through it. You and Lysander have been together for ages, and you'll both figure out a way to make this work somehow - _together_."

I unwrapped my arms from around her and straightened.

"But you've got to tell Lysander, Dom. He's better at handling things than we give him credit for, and sure he might stress out a bit initially, but he deserves to know. It's something that affects the both of you, and it isn't fair to keep him in the dark."

She stared at me for a moment; just as I was beginning to worry if I'd said something she didn't want to hear, she spoke.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right."

I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"You know," Dom continued, sliding off the desk and beginning to leave the classroom. "You're surprisingly good at this whole dealing with feelings business." She shot me a small smile. "Now, if only you could use those skills to sort out your own feelings for a certain cousin of mine."

I raised my eyebrows at her.

"You do know that you have a _lot_ of cousins, right Dom?"

She dismissed my response with a wave of her hand.

"You know the one."

She left the room in significantly higher spirits, while I stood rooted to the spot trying to decipher her words.

* * *

"And then, she just left without saying anything else!" I said, raising my hands into the air in exasperation. "I mean, she must know that her family literally makes up nearly half the Hogwarts population!"

We were sitting in our dormitory; I had just gotten back from my encounter with Dom, and was filling Rose, Cassie and Erin on the details. My half finished charms essay lay forgotten by my pillow - it could wait until lunch.

Right now, there were more important matters at hand.

"Well I'm glad you managed to talk some sense into Dom," Rose said from next to me. "And I'll have you know our family isn't _that_ huge."

When faced with two pairs of raised eyebrows (and an unwavering stare from Erin), Rose conceded,

"Fine," she sighed. "We may not be the _smallest_ of families."

"Since the issue of Dom seems to have sorted itself out," piped up Cassie from the floor. "I vote we figure out which cousin Liv supposedly has a thing for."

"It's not Rose, that's for sure - " Erin yelped as a cushion hit her face.

"It's got to be someone you talk to for sure," Cassie soldiered on.

"Doesn't rule out much." This time I was the one who threw a cushion at Erin's face.

"Oh come on!" She exclaimed, her voice muffled. "That wasn't even an insult! I was only _saying_ that you were social."

"It could be anyone," I said, pretending not to hear Erin. "I mean, Dom's a pretty random person - you never know what she's thinking." I paused. "I hope she knows I'm into guys though, because otherwise this could get very anticlimactic very quickly."

"Even if we assume that Dom took the girls into account as well, it shouldn't be too hard to narrow it down." Rose said, her mind clearly whirring. "First off, I think we can rule out anyone who's taken. Dom basically told you to act on it, right? So she obviously supports it, and Dom isn't usually an advocate for breaking couples up."

I snorted. "Unless it's Louis."

Last year, Louis spent a few weeks dating Melissa Reynolds, a Hufflepuff in our year. She was nice enough, albeit a bit boring (although that was probably because I had absolutely nothing in common with her). Anyways, the two of them broke up after some first class meddling by Dom, involving (but not limited to): a tale of chicken pox, a fake doctor's note and some well used Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products.

Make of that what you will.

Cassie coughed. "Mel and Louis were a disaster waiting to happen - we knew they would have broken up soon even without Dom's help."

"Right," Erin said, dragging out the word. "And that's got _nothing_ to do with the fact that you're madly in love with the boy, has it?"

Before Rose could inevitably play the peacemaker, as she had dutifully done whenever this topic of conversation was brought up, Cassie spoke.

"I'm not _in love_ with him and you know that perfectly well. I don't even fancy him for god's sake! We went out in _third year_ , it shouldn't even count."

"Cass, that was literally two years ago." Apparently Rose has left the peacemaker act behind and is now up for tormenting Cassie as well.

"We were _thirteen_. Nothing that happened at that age should have any say now. There was no angsty drama, it was a mutual decision and we're both definitely over each other. Seriously, I don't need anymore reminders of my thirteen year old self."

In Cassie's defence, it _was_ something that was well in the past. Still, Erin loved bringing it up time and time again. It was probably the only thing that could ever get Cassie properly flustered, and it relieved (and amused) us to know that even the seemingly always poised Cassandra Williams could be embarrassed too.

"Now can we _please_ get back to figuring out who the mystery cousin Dom wants to set Liv up with is? My bet's on Albus, to be honest."

" _No,_ " I said firmly. "We're doing this logically, not based off your wild whims and ideas."

So we went through the list of Potters and Weasleys, eliminating them one by one.

"It's got to be someone you interact with regularly - not just when you come over."

"So that gets rid of everyone who's left school - Victoire, Teddy and Molly. Oh, and the younger ones - even though you do talk to them I'm sure Dom would think it weird to set you up with one of them - ruling out Lily and Hugo."

"Lucy might only be a year younger than us but you haven't spoken a single word to her - "

" - more like _Lucy_ hasn't spoken a single word to _anyone_."

"Oi, that's my cousin you're talking about!"

"Leaving Fred, Roxanne, James, Al and Louis. Oh, and Rose."

That caused a round of laughter, until Cassie caught sight of the wall we'd charmed to show the time.

"Oh crap," she said, her eyes widening. "Charms."

I groaned. "Blake is going to _murder_ us."

You'd really think I'd get used to being late for things after five years of schooling, but apparently not.

* * *

Professor Blake was a woman who no student of Hogwarts knew very much about. So of course, we handled the mystery surrounding her in the usual way: gossip and rumours. All we knew was that Blake took the position of charms professor a couple of years before we came to Hogwarts, leaving Flitwick to pursue his true passion: the Frog Choir.

Approach any student and they would have only one of two vastly differing opinions when it came to Professor Blake. Some considered her a gift to mankind, in no small part due to her young age and _Witch Weekly_ worthy body (unsurprisingly, this was a belief held by most of the easily starstruck boys of Hogwarts). However, the girls (most of us at least) saw Blake for what she truly was.

A painfully strict witch who took the idea of 'independent study' too seriously. In other words, she did nothing to actually help us learn, instead preferring to pile on our homework and spend classes lecturing us on how we haven't done it.

Thank god charms was my best subject.

Fortunately, when we entered the classroom Blake wasn't there yet. Unfortunately, most of the students were. It took us a split second to scan the available seats in the classroom, and another to realise what this meant. We simultaneously zoned in on the most desirable seats left, and abandoned all ideals of friendship and camaraderie to make a run for it, each man for himself.

You see, there were two seats, and four of us.

The fact that class hadn't started meant that no one was paying us any attention, so we were free to be unabashed in our pursuit. Cassie and Erin ended up getting there first, leaving me and Rose to take the other pair of remaining seats in the classroom.

And with our luck, they were right behind Potter and Malfoy.

"C'mon Liv, it won't be that bad," Rose reassured me, as we made our way to the seats. "It's one class, we're not even sitting at their table, and if we do have to interact it'll be good for you and Al to learn to get along. Of course, I can't vouch for Malfoy, but if Al thinks he's alright I trust his judgment."

I rolled my eyes. "Rose, your cousin and I have been potions partners this entire year - look how that turned out. Not to mention that I've got no clue where we stand after the whole astronomy tower thing."

"But it took you guys an entire year to reach breaking point," Rose replied, raising her eyebrows slightly. "What's one more class going to do?"

"Why hello," Scorpius Malfoy's voice greeted us as we reached their table. "And to what do we owe the pleasure of you two coming to join us?"

"There's no other seats," I said, as gruffly as I could manage, dropping my bag at the desk Rose and I would be sitting at. With a bit of luck, we'd get through the lesson as usual, and I wouldn't even have to look Potter in the eye.

Not that I was _scared_ or anything. Just mildly unsettled; I mean did our conversation on the astronomy tower mean we were back to our regular dynamic, or were we supposed to be civil, or god forbid, _friends_?

Unfortunately, any hope I had of avoiding Al Potter vanished the second Professor Blake walked in with none of her usual teaching materials.

"Alright class," she said, her voice lacking her usual no-nonsense tone. "Today you'll be practicing for your practical exam. You should be able to perform all the spells we've gone over in class. Work in groups of four - "

I didn't even have to listen to know that with my luck, Rose and I would be partnered with Potter and Malfoy.

When Blake was done sorting us into groups, she mumbled some instructions along the lines of practising the practical exercises in our textbook, before settling into her chair. After a minute of pretending to pay attention to us, she turned her focus to a copy of _Witch Weekly_ she'd pulled out of her desk drawer.

"This is going to end well," I grumbled as we joined our table to Potter and Malfoy's.

"Liv, I swear to Godric if you don't stop complaining I _will not hesitate_ to put a silencing charm on you."

"Just you try, Weasley."

"Oh come on," a different voice interrupted. I turned my head towards Malfoy, who was looking at me with a faux hurt expression on his face. "I thought last names were reserved for me and Al."

"I'm sorry Malfoy," Rose said, sugar-sweet. "It seems you've been replaced."

I shot a pointed glare at Rose. For all her talk about Potter and I having to get on, she sure doesn't bother with Malfoy, who happens to be her cousin's closest friend. _Hypocrisy is an ugly thing, Rose Weasley._

"Right, let's just _please_ get on with this. I'm already going to fail potions - I don't need to be screwing up the charms practical as well." I muttered.

"Believe me, you're not going to screw up charms. But if you do screw any of your subjects up it'll be because you spent all your time doing Blake's bloody assignments instead of actually revising for your other classes."

You know it's bad when even Rose Weasley, master of getting everything done, complains about the workload.

"Don't let Scorp catch you saying that," I turned towards the voice, which came from none other than Potter, who was twirling his quill between his fingers. "In his eyes, dear Lizzie Blake can do no wrong."

He inclined his head towards Malfoy, who sure enough, was gazing at Blake with an entranced expression.

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. "All you guys are the same - take the grumpiest cow on the planet and if they had a hot body you'd be sold."

Potter raised an eyebrow. "Well I, for one, am offended that you choose to group me with the rest of them. Besides, it's not like you girls are any different with Vance."

Professor Vance was the new transfiguration professor, who to be fair did have a hold on some of the girls at Hogwarts. Still, it was nowhere near as extreme as the situation with Professor Blake.

Although, if I had to hear Cassie gush about his "smouldering eyes" one more time I think I might have punched something.

"Guys," Rose interrupted. "Can you two please, just for one lesson, get along?"

"I'm not making promises I can't keep," Potter said immediately.

This time I really did roll my eyes. "Feeling childish today, aren't we Potter?"

"No, just realistic. You and I both know we wouldn't last ten minutes without finding something to argue about."

I looked at Rose for backup, but she'd taken Malfoy by the arm to go grab some objects to practice on. She was probably eager to escape mine and Potter's bickering.

"You know, that wouldn't be a problem if you stopped consistently trying to ruin my day." I told him lightly enough, but there was an undercurrent of truth. In my eyes, at least, Potter was responsible for the many fights we got ourselves into.

" _You're_ the one making generalised assumptions about my taste in women."

"And _you're_ the one who set fire to my hair just a few short days ago."

"I apologised for that!"

"What about the nifflers in my schoolbag? Belch powder in my pumpkin juice?"

"Bulbadox powder in my quidditch robes?" he countered. "Dungbombs in my trunk - which by the way wasn't even original."

"And these constant jabs and insults which are just becoming _tiring_."

"Adams, you and I both love the verbal sparring."

"Speak for yourself, I'd rather not have to deal with you belittling everything I say and do."

"And _I'd_ rather you get your head out of your arse and stop acting like this is a oneway thing, but we can't all get what we want, can we? Face it, Adams, you're just as bad as I am."

"Don't you _dare_ pin this on me! I do nothing to provoke you into being a _complete dick -_ "

"Half our spats happen because _you_ blow something small I say completely out of proportion."

"Well I'm sorry that I actually get _offended_ by the _insults_ you chuck my way."

"Wow," a voice interrupted us. "Do you guys always get this intense?"

I glared at Malfoy. "Half the time I'm yelling at you as well as him, so I don't think you get to say anything in this situation."

He smiled knowingly at me. "Trust me, you definitely yell at Al more than me."

"The both of you are being so ridiculous!" Rose's voice was heavy with exasperation, as she looked at both me and Potter. "Why can't we get through one class, just one, without you two being at each other's throats?"

I looked down at the table, feeling some semblance of guilt. Hadn't I just told Rose a couple of days ago that I'd make an effort with her cousin? So she wouldn't have to play tug of war between us?

I looked over at Potter, who was looking at his quill with an expression that was probably similar to mine. There was no doubt he'd gotten the "I'm sick of you two always fighting" talk from Rose before too.

For the rest of the class, neither Potter nor I spoke. Not because we had nothing to say, but because whatever we did say would probably lead to another argument. And I guess we both felt we owed Rose some peace and quiet once in a while.

If not talking at all was the way to achieve that, then so be it. Even if it was a little sad that the only way we could be civil was by completely ignoring each other.

* * *

The morning of the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, I found myself unable to eat. This happened before every big Quidditch match; I always ended up shovelling some food in my mouth right before we had to leave just so that Liam wouldn't end up having to force-feed me.

Because I definitely didn't put it past him to try.

The Gryffindor table was alive with excitement, with everyone from tiny excited first years to seventh years taking a break from NEWTs ready to watch the match. The only quiet part of the table was where we, the team, were sitting.

"Come on, you lot," James broke the silence. "This is our chance to show Ravenclaw who's boss! There's no way they're getting that Quidditch cup."

Hearing James speak seemed to bring Liam out of whatever trance he was in and into captain mode.

"He's right. We've worked too hard to lose now. Now for the love of God get some food into your stomachs so we can go down to the pitch - I'm not having any of you fainting of hunger during the match."

"Won't be a problem," Fred said through a mouthful of bacon, nearly elbowing Erin who was sipping a cup of coffee from next to him. She shot him a glare in response, but he was too focused on the plate in front of him to notice.

"Wood, that goes for you too," James piped up, sliding the plate of toast towards Elizabeth Wood, who was sitting next to me. She stared at the plate, not seeming to process it.

"C'mon El," I said, nudging her slightly with my elbow. "You're going to need the energy."

"Yep, can't have you letting goals in like you did at the last family game can we?" James grinned at her.

Before I could reprimand him for doing what I thought would make it worse, El snatched a piece of toast of the plate. "I'll have you know I stopped _every_ one of your shots, Potter."

Liam raised an eyebrow at me, and I remembered our conversation a couple of weeks ago, where he told me our competitive streaks only served to make the team stronger. It seemed my older brother _did_ know what he was talking about.

I glanced at Albus, who seemed to be doing fine, even if he was being unusually quiet. He was playing with a snitch he'd had for as long as I could remember, letting it fly out of his hand for a couple of seconds only to catch it again.

I tore my gaze away from him when I felt someone kick me under the table. Erin inclined her head towards my cereal, then Liam. Getting the message, I proceeded to pick up my spoon and try to shove a few more spoonfuls into my mouth, forcing myself to swallow. Erin gave me an approving nod, before going back to nursing her coffee.

We sat in silence for a while, as we all tried to eat enough to get ourselves through the match. It was a rare moment for us, since we were a team that usually couldn't shut up for more than the couple of minutes it took us to catch our breath after a particularly gruelling set of drills. But all of us took Quidditch seriously enough that we were each lost in our own thoughts about the upcoming game.

When we got up from the table and began heading towards the pitch, I ran into Michael Davies. His sandy hair was in disarray, as if he had just rolled out of bed, and I felt a familiar fluttering in my stomach. My brain might have known we were done, but it's never easy to get rid of the feelings left behind after a relationship ends. They linger at the pit of your stomach, waiting to resurface the first chance they get.

Erin was up ahead with Fred, but I saw El glance at me over her shoulder. I never grew up with the Wood family the way I did with the Weasley-Potters, since I only ever saw them at the family Quidditch games, but El and I had gotten close during our Hogwarts years. It wasn't just bonding during intense Quidditch practices; she was someone I could count on outside Quidditch, whether it was for advice or just to have a good time laughing in front of the Common Room fire.

I gave her a small smile, as if to say: " _I can handle this"_ , before looking Davies in the eye.

"What do you want?" I made myself sound impatient, unconcerned with him. It might have been an act, but it was better than crumpling on the spot, or perhaps worse, blowing up and starting to yell at him.

"I - I just wanted to say good luck for the match." Davies was the Ravenclaw team's keeper - speaking of which, shouldn't he be heading to the pitch like the rest of us?

Probably sensing my confusion, he said, "I overslept. But that's besides the point. Why are you avoiding me, Olivia?"

I laughed, and I was shocked to hear a trace of bitterness in it. "I'm not avoiding you, Davies. I just don't see the point in wasting my time with you anymore."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"It means, I'm sick of you coming to me and pleading for things to go back to the way they were, just so you can go behind my back all over again and snog some other girl. I honestly don't get it - if you like Lancaster then why don't you just go out with her? Why drag me along for the ride?"

"Olivia, that's not the whole story-"

"Save it, Davies. I don't want to hear it."

His face contorted into an ugly scowl.

"You know what? Relationships take trust -"

"Don't _you_ go lecturing me about trust."

"- and _you_ , Olivia Adams, are far too afraid to trust anyone and hear what they have to say -"

"That's because I know anything _you_ say will be a lie."

"- and the worst thing is you don't even trust _yourself_ , because you're so goddamn insecure that you have next to zero faith in yourself. You never do anything by yourself, not because you don't want to but because you _can't._ "

"That's _not true -_ "

"You told me you only tried out for the Quidditch team because your friends told you to - you need them behind you every step of the way, and you're always looking behind you to check that they're still there. But tell me this, Olivia - do you think you can ever get past anything on your own? Because let me tell you, people aren't always gonna be there to watch your back and hold your hand."

"For G _od's sake_ -"

"And I don't blame you - I mean it's obvious that you're more reliant on Potter and your brother as your fellow chasers. I know you don't like taking shots, that you prefer passing back and forth so you can avoid the pressure of actually having to shoot -"

" _Michael Andrew Davies will you just be quiet for once in your goddamn life!_ " I burst out.

Nothing he was saying was true, and the most part of me knew it, but Davies also happened to know me well. When someone mentioned a supposed flaw of mine, it took root in my brain, making me question my abilities, even if I was initially fine.

When I continued to speak, my voice was even, measured but cold.

"You have no right to say any of those things, not just because you make _zero sense_ but also because you don't get to pass judgement on what I do or how I feel. You are not my boyfriend, and I find it difficult to believe you ever were. You are certainly not my friend either, so you can take your opinions, _shove them up your arse_ and move out of my way."

I shoved past him, making my way to the pitch and praying the team hadn't noticed my prolonged absence.

Davies' voice rang out behind me.

"You can act high and mighty all you want, Olivia, but I can see you doubting yourself already. Let's see how you play in the match now shall we? When it's just you and the quaffle, and no one to stop you from second guessing your every move."

* * *

When I entered the locker room, I was met with a couple of questioning glances, but nothing more.

"Sorry," I panted - I had run the last stretch just to be on the safe side. "I got sidetracked."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Potter give me a strange look, but he turned away in a second, so quick I could have imagined it.

Liam spoke in a rush.

"Liv, we can't have you distracted before this match, okay? This is our last chance - well, _my_ last chance - to win the cup!" I could see the nerves, clear as day, in the way my older brother paced the floor back and forth.

"Calm down," I said, walking up to him and placing my hands on his shoulders. I gave him a quick shake, as if that would get the nervous energy out of his system. "We've trained long and hard for this, we've got it. We just need to stay _calm_."

Once I'd gotten into my kit as well, we all sat around on the benches, while Liam stood in front of the whiteboard we used to discuss plays.

"I'm not going to go over the strategies," he said, to a chorus of hoots and " _thank god_ "s. "Because I know you guys are completely clear on them."

"You bet we a-" James was silenced by a well aimed spare glove in the face by El.

"I just want you all to remember," Liam continued as if the interruption hadn't happened, "that we have the skills, the determination, the _need_ to win. It's been a while since Gryffindor has taken the cup, but this is our year."

My brother was never the sort of captain for extravagant speeches. A couple of lines for dramatic effect and excitement was all he'd offer. Nevertheless, his two sentence speech causes cheers and hollers to erupt throughout the team, along with a suspicious "Louis' gobstone set is _mine"_ from Fred.

"Right, team," Liam said, standing up. "Let's go show those Claws what we're made of."

* * *

We flew on to the Quidditch pitch to a roar of cheers. The stands were split almost evenly between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw colours - all I could hear was the loud buzzing of voices, but I could imagine the scenes in the stands. People fiddling with banners and signs, placing bets, first years' excited chatter about watching their first ever Hogwarts Quidditch final and older students confidently discussing the outcome.

Scorpius Malfoy was commentating, as he had been doing since our third year without fail.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have the Gryffindor team flying in now, captained by Liam Adams, who is joined in chaser position by his younger sister Olivia Adams. Let's hope their sibling rivalry doesn't screw things up today! Speaking of sibling rivalry, the bigger concerns are _obviously_ the Potter brothers, with James as chaser and Al as seeker. Careful James, don't let your rivalry with Al _chase_ your team out of a victory!"

I groaned. Malfoy had a tendency to unashamedly litter his commentary with the worst possible puns. By now, Hogwarts was used to it, so complaints were minimal, but most of us still found ourselves rolling our eyes whenever one of Malfoy's jokes was particularly bad.

Ignoring the lighthearted boos at his pun with an unapologetic grin, Malfoy continued.

"Gryffindor beaters are Erin Thomas and Fred Weasley - Ravenclaw had better watch out because those two are a deadly combination - and keeper is Elizabeth Wood, who if I'm not wrong is going to be scouted by the Applehead Arrows next year. See, Ravenclaw? I don't see _your_ team members being scouted by professional teams!"

The Ravenclaw introduction was significantly more minimalistic than ours, with Malfoy simply announcing the names of the players and their positions, no side notes. You'd think someone would get annoyed at the obvious bias, but Malfoy's commentary was entertaining enough that his partiality went forgiven. While McGonagall would occasionally voice disapproval, I think even she had given up by this point.

I eyed the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as they took their positions in front of us. Louis was next to his other chasers, Jacob Stewart and a sixth year named Martha Knight. He shot me a wink, before mouthing, " _You're going down, Adams_ ", which I responded to with a simple roll of my eyes. Lysander was playing beater with another sixth year, Eddie Miller, and Davies was keeper. Florence Chang was seeker, and the seventh year captain of the team.

Liam and Florence landed on the pitch to shake hands. I saw Florence quirk a smile at something Liam said, before they returned to their places and Madam Hooch blew the whistle, beginning the game.

"And Knight takes the quaffle, zooming down towards the Gryffindor goalposts! Weasley aims a bludger her way but Knight dives, passing to Stewart who aims at the goal posts and… Wood blocks it with ease! Come on, Claws, you've got to try harder than that!"

El passed the quaffle to James, who began zooming down the pitch. I kept ahead of him, open to receive a pass, but before he could throw it -

"Oooh, Potter Senior gets a nasty hit from a well aimed bludger by Scamander and is forced to drop the quaffle, into the waiting arms of Louis Weasley!"

I swore under my breath, but Louis was already tearing up towards the Gryffindor goalposts. While the Ravenclaw chasers were more or less even in terms of skill, Louis had the advantage of knowing the way El played keeper from all the Weasley Quidditch games she attended. And in Quidditch, being able to predict a player's moves is deadly. Liam had made sure to keep us trying new moves for that very reason, but it was anyone's guess as to how this would play out.

"Weasley takes aim at the hoops, and he _scores_ , taking the first ten points for Ravenclaw!"

Getting the first score was always a morale booster, so it was key that we score the next goal. Wasting no time, El passed the quaffle to Liam, while James and I prepared to enter into the Hawkshead formation. We charged through the Ravenclaw defence, with the arrowhead formation and our quick passes between each other getting us through. When I was close enough to shoot, with the quaffle in my hands, I hesitated for a split second. Davies' words from before echoed in my mind.

 _So goddamn insecure._

 _Never do anything by yourself._

 _Can't._

My second of hesitation was enough for someone to shoot a bludger my way - instinctively, I ducked into a sloth grip roll, and when I was upright again I made eye contact with Davies.

 _When it's just you and the quaffle, and no one to stop you._

I aimed to the left, and -

"Olivia Adams scores for Gryffindor! Catching Michael Davies off-guard with a clever feint to the left hoop! _Let's go Lions!_ "

 _I'm done with you, Michael Davies_. I thought, before turning away from him.

* * *

Twenty minutes in, and the score was 70 - 50, with Gryffindor leading. I flew down the pitch with the quaffle tucked under my arm, passing it to Liam when I sensed Knight and Stewart approaching me. He continued down the pitch and -

" _What's this?_ " You could hear the excitement in Malfoy's voice. "Albus Potter seems to have spotted the snitch! He's dipping into a spiral dive and - _crap_ that's a nasty blow from a well aimed dopplebeater defence by the Ravenclaw beaters. With both of them swinging at the same time there must have been a hell of a lot of force behind that hit - I don't envy Al right now. Will Gryffindor have to make a substitution?"

I looked down briefly to see Potter clutching his right arm. _Shit_. With Potter injured we didn't stand a chance - our substitute was a fourth year who wasn't anywhere near experienced enough to take on Chang.

"But what?" Malfoy continued. "Looks like Al's miraculously kept his eyes on the snitch, as he ducks into another dive, holding onto his broom with just one hand. He's dipping dangerously close to the ground - he'll have to pull up soon. He's cutting it close… And he lifts at the last second, but the momentum forces him off of his broom!"

Potter was on the floor of the pitch, rolling several times. I heard the whistle blow and held my breath. He sat up, but then thrust his left hand into the air.

" _And Al's caught the snitch!_ Gryffindor wins the match, taking the Quidditch cup from the defending champions, Ravenclaw!"

I froze for a second, before it sunk in. _We won. We did it._ I felt a grin split my face, and dove down to land on the pitch, which was now swarming with cheering students.

This was the first time I'd actually been part of a winning team - the last time Gryffindor won the cup was when I was in first year. All our hard work had finally paid off, and after years of missing out on victory Gryffindor was back.

El found me first, throwing her arms around me with an excited squeal. She'd been on the team in her second year when Gryffindor won, so this wasn't the first time she was in this position, but that didn't make her any less ecstatic. James came next, ruffling my hair affectionately, followed by Erin and Fred together. I craned my head to find Potter, wondering if he was alright after the nasty bludger and fall he'd had, but couldn't spot him through the crowd.

Then I saw Liam a little ways in front of me, and immediately made my way towards him. I punched him lightly in the arm, before hugging him.

"Maybe your crazy training schedules were worth it in the end." I had to yell to be heard over the crowd, which had now taken up a raucous chant of "Let's go lions".

"Careful," he replied with a grin. "You don't get to tell the captain of the Quidditch cup-winning team how to run his practices."

I punched him again, for good measure.

"Good job though, you deserve it," I said.

"Right back at you, sis."

* * *

The common room was filled with people celebrating Gryffindor's win. Not only that, but it was the last real occasion for a party, before exams took over all our lives. Even though it was Gryffindor celebration, students from the other houses had shown up too, meaning the common room was crammed to the limit. Music was blaring, people were dancing, and the air was thick with the smell of alcohol. It always amazed me how we managed to hold these parties in school, and I wondered whether the teachers underestimated how big of a thing they were or simply chose to ignore it. Either way, no one could deny that Hogwarts students knew how to party.

I'd come with El and mostly stuck with her, since it was often difficult to find people you knew in the chaos of these parties. Despite the fact that half the school seemed to be here, you could never seem to find anyone you actually _knew_.

El had been shooting Jonathan Clearwater longing glances for the entire night though, and I wasn't about to hold her back.

"Go dance with him," I said, taking her drink from her with my free hand. "I know you want to."

She looked at me, then at Clearwater, then back at me.

"But I don't want to leave you -" she began to protest, but I gently pushed her in his direction.

"I'll be fine, I'm sure I'll find _someone_ else in this whole common room."

"I don't know, I mean it could be awkward -"

"You're the star keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team - after all the amazing saves you made today he'll be dying for a shot with you."

"Do I look okay though? I mean I probably look tired from the match -"

"You look gorgeous as ever, now will you _please_ go dance with him before I chuck this drink in your face so you're forced to walk past him on the way to the dorms to change."

"You're such a Slytherin."

With that, she began to push her way through the crowd towards Clearwater. I stayed where I was, scanning the crowd for anyone I knew well enough to talk to. I saw Cassie with her divination friends, who I could only really handle for small snippets of time all together. Erin and Rose were nowhere to be found. I was considering joining Fred and James at the beer pong table - you'd think being a chaser would make me good at it, but in actuality I was awful - when someone spoke from behind me.

"Nursing two drinks at once Adams? Bit much for this early in the night, wouldn't you say?"

I turned to see Potter with a drink of his own, hair ruffled and face flushed. His eyes were shining, from victory or alcohol I couldn't tell.

I glanced at the two drinks in my hands.

"One of them is El's, I took it so she could go dance."

"Right, you definitely didn't want a reasonable excuse to drink twice as much as you usually would." He winked, surprising me. Drinking definitely made Potter a friendlier person.

"You don't know my drinking habits, Potter." I offered him a small smile. "Nice job today by the way, you alright after that bludger?"

He winced. "Broke my arm, then bruised pretty badly when I fell off my broom."

"Well you did good to handle your broom _and_ catch the snitch with your non-dominant hand."

"Thanks." He grinned, and the sincerity startled me. I was used to smirks and half-smiles, not this.

"You were great too," he continued. "Your feint when you scored the first goal for Gryffindor was brilliant - Davies didn't know what hit him."

My face flushed at the unexpected compliment. "The dick had it coming," I replied.

He laughed outright at that. "And here I was thinking all your hatred was reserved for me."

"It's alright - don't feel too bad about it." I waved a hand airily. "I'm sure there are others out there that would be willing to detest you instead of me. Plenty of fish in the sea and all that."

He snorted. "With the way Pomfrey was acting when she had to patch me up, I'm pretty certain she already detests me. She wouldn't stop muttering something along the lines of "like father like son", then went on a tirade about how lucky it was that I still had the bones in my arm at all. Apparently dad managed to lose all the bones in his arm at one point; I'll have to ask him about that sometime."

"Well, I wouldn't feel too special about Pomfrey hating you either - she seems to have it out for all us Quidditch players. Wouldn't even help me grow my hair back."

"And here I thought you didn't grow it back because I said it looked nicer this way."

"You know I don't give a rat's ass about your opinion Potter."

"Now now, Adams, no need to get vulgar."

"Fuck you, Potter."

"Anytime, Adams."

Before I had a chance to process it, Malfoy appeared and began dragging Potter away citing some drinking game or another. I stared at the pair of them as they moved further away, and right before they entered the thick of the crowd Potter turned his head and shot me another wink.

So in the past five minutes, I'd actually enjoyed a conversation with a guy I'd never gotten along with before, and been jokingly hit on by the same guy.

Must be the alcohol.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** _I'm _so_ sorry guys! I know I said I'd update regularly but after my exams a bunch of stuff I'd been putting off piled on me all at once, and I haven't really been able to write like I used to. I'm still intent on finishing this story it's just that updates are gonna be a little sporadic - it shouldn't be too bad but I'm just warning you all. As always, let me know what you think - I know this is delving into some cliche territory at times but I do love me some good ol' tropes, they're my favourite kind of guilty pleasure reading! And if you want to see where I'm at in between updates try my tumblr! Link is in my profile :)


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